Nightmares of the Past
by Serene Ice Dragon
Summary: When the living as well as a pair of Shinigami vanish in a town called Silent Hill, Tsuzuki, Hisoka and Tatsumi are sent to America to investigate. Can they survive the nightmares of their pasts, or will more Shinigami become victims of the twisted town?
1. A New Case

_Author's Note: I had the urge to write a Silent Hill fanfiction the other day, and thought the Yami no Matsuei guys would be great candidates to send to the town. I'm so cruel. Anyway, since the point is to dive into the minds of the characters and their darkest nightmares, I thought the best way to write this would be from each character's perspective. The perspective will change between Tsuzuki, Tatsumi and Hisoka throughout the story, but each change will be marked clearly (see below) and (hopefully) transitioned smoothly. Oh, and since this is Silent Hill, prepare for character torture. I love the guys though, I really do! Please don't kill me!_

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**---Tsuzuki Asato---**

"Tsuzuki-san, Kurosaki-kun, the Chief has a case and would like to see us in the meeting room."

I look up from the computer screen where I had been typing up a report from my last case, not really wanting to stop writing it. I had actually been into my work. The case turned out to be rather sweet, one of those heartwarming ones that make being a Shinigami a little easier. Hisoka and I had been sent to find a missing soul. It turned out the girl, who was only 20, didn't know she was dead and was still wandering the living world. It had happened in her sleep, peacefully and without pain. Ever since she was born, her health had been frail, and illness had overpowered her that night. Since it had been such a peaceful death, she was not aware of it. When she couldn't find her brother in the house later on, she panicked and searched for him. She was about to try to contact the police when Hisoka and I found her. Hisoka explained to her that she was no longer alive, and, surprisingly, she accepted it easily. That was when she told us about her frail health and how she hadn't expected to live long, about how her parents had passed away a couple years ago in a car accident, how she was now in charge of taking care of her 15-year-old little brother and please, please could she tell him something before she left. I almost cried listening to her story (Hisoka later called me a sap, but I know that he felt the same way I had about it, he was just better at hiding it), and Hisoka and I agreed to let her briefly see her brother so she could pass on with a clear conscience.

Not too long after, she found her brother, who had been moved to his aunt and uncle's house after his sister was found dead. She told him that she loved him, and she would continue to watch over him with their parents, and to live a good life. He told her he would, that he loved her and that he would see her again someday. At that point, I actually did cry because it was just so heartwarming. Hisoka told me to knock it off before I made it harder for them, but I think he was trying not to cry himself. While I did feel guilty for taking such a wonderful person from the living world and away from her brother, she had actually thanked us for helping her pass on. Hisoka told me that she was looking forward to seeing her parents again and had no fears. His empathy is very accurate, so that relieved my guilt.

"Tsuzuki, let's go!"

Ooops, and now he's yelling at me for taking too long. Tatsumi is standing in the doorway, waiting for me to get up and Hisoka looks about ready to yank me out of my seat.

"Sorry, I'm coming!" I say as I get up and follow Tatsumi to the meeting room.

"Why can't you be more into your work when you don't have other work to do?" Hisoka asks, shaking his head at me.

"I couldn't help it, it was just so beautiful!"

"Now you sound like a teenage girl who just finished watching a chick flick."

"Oh, come on, you know you thought it was sweet too."

Hisoka doesn't respond, as we are now in the meeting room and taking a seat to see what case we are being given next.

"I know you two just got back from a case," the Chief says, looking over at me and then Hisoka, "but there is something urgent that needs to be taken care of. I need you three to go to America."

"America?!" Tatsumi, Hisoka and I spurt out in unison. The Chief holds up a hand, silencing us so that he can continue explaining.

"It is a highly unusual case, but it is necessary. There have been several disappearances in a town there, and none can be explained. There is nothing to be found of the victims either, body, spirit, nothing."

"So why don't they give the case to the Shinigami in charge there?" I ask, thoroughly confused.

"They have. The problem is, the two Shinigami sent on the case have also gone missing. We have been asked to look into it and try to find the missing Shinigami, which is why I am sending you three out."

"You are sending me as well?" Tatsumi asks, not used to field work, "But, Chief-"

"Tatsumi, please, I know you are not used to it, but I feel it is best if you go as well. Two Shinigami have disappeared, so we need to be careful. Your control over shadows and ability to use the Shadow Dimension may be what prevents two more Shinigami from going missing."

Tatsumi hesitates, but bows his head. "I...understand."

"You are to catch the plane at nine tomorrow morning. The flight is about 14 hours non-stop, and when you arrive in America it should be around ten in the morning. You can check into a hotel there until you are recovered from the flight and ready to investigate the town called Silent Hill. Since I don't know how long it will take, you will have to get back on your own. Any questions?"

It's silent as we all think about the mission ahead of us. A trip to America? While the trip sounds kind of fun to me (I've never been to America) the case itself sounds dangerous. Shinigami didn't just disappear, especially two of them. Working in partners was supposed to help prevent that, so what had happened? I can tell the others are worried as well. Tatsumi keeps fidgeting nervously, Hisoka is staring at the table, and the Chief keeps looking between us with a deep frown.

"I'm sorry to send you three out like this, but if anybody can solve this, I believe it's you three." The Chief hands Tatsumi three sheets of paper, probably the confirmation for our plane tickets. "That is all. You are dismissed for the remainder of the day to prepare. Be careful."

I'm waiting for Tatsumi to argue against taking the rest of the day off, but, surprisingly, he doesn't. Instead, he simply nods, tells the Chief that he'll contact him when we settle into the hotel, and walks out. I look over at the Chief and give him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Chief, we'll be okay! Especially with the three of us!"

He grins in return, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes. "I'm counting on you three."

Hisoka and I leave the room and meet back up with Tatsumi. The case already has him stressed, it's written all over his face. I can't help but wonder if part of the reason he's against this is because of me. We've never had to work together since the partnership was broken. I know Tatsumi has a hard time dealing with me sometimes. I feel really bad about it, I hate making him upset. I'll have to do my best to make sure I don't make things hard for him.

He sighs. "We'll have to meet up before we leave for the airport."

"I can pick up Tsuzuki to make sure he's up and ready on time." at this, Hisoka glances at me before turning his attention back to Tatsumi, "Then we can head over to your house from there."

Tatsumi nods. "Yes, that sounds like a good idea. We will leave no later than 7:30 to make sure we have plenty of time at the airport once we get there."

I smile, trying to lighten Tatsumi's mood, if only just a little. "Okay, we'll be there! See you tomorrow then. Sleep well, Tatsumi."

Tatsumi gives another nod, but doesn't say anything and walks away.

Hisoka and I head back to our office to gather our things. My unfinished report is still up on the monitor of my computer. Figuring I can finish it on the plane, I quickly e-mail the document to myself, open it up on the laptop, save it there, then shut both machines down. Technology is so convenient these days. Instead of lugging around all that paper, I can just put everything on the laptop and then print it out later. Typing is so much quicker and easier than writing too. Sure beats when I first became a Shinigami and there were no computers. I'm still not very good with them, but I know how to do the basics.

With my stuff packed up, I get my coat on and follow Hisoka out. Our houses aren't that far apart from each other, so for most of the way, we are both headed in the same direction. Tatsumi's isn't that far either, but he had left before us. For about half of the walk, neither of us say anything. Hisoka is worried about the mission too.

"Well, we have an interesting trip ahead of us." I say to break the silence.

Hisoka glares at me from the corner of his eye. "Don't take this too lightly. This isn't one of our normal cases."

"I know that, but spending all day worrying about it isn't going to help us."

"Tsuzuki, two Shinigami went missing. They even called us from Japan instead of handing the case to other Shinigami who live in America! This isn't a field trip, this is a big deal. The only reason I can think they'd call our department is because you can control twelve Shikigami and Tatsumi can control the shadows, the former of which is unheard of among any other Shinigami, the second being exceedingly rare to the point that Tatsumi is one of two who has that kind of power. They are calling on those with unusual powers because they don't think anybody else can handle it!"

"I know, Hisoka, I know. I'm worried too, but if we stay in this mood all day, it'll only stress us all out and wont help us any. We have plenty of time to plan, for now we just have to get ready." I smile and Hisoka looks away.

"Easy for the King of Procrastination to say."

By this time, we've reached the point where we have to part ways. Hisoka doesn't seem to be in much better of a mood. I'm kind of worried about leaving him like this. He has nightmares easily, and I don't want him to be up all night. He's told me I worry too much about him before, but I can't help it! I'm just looking out for his health!

"I'm coming to get you just after seven tomorrow, so you better be up and ready. I'll get there early enough though so that if you aren't, we won't be late waiting for you to get ready."

"I'll be up! Come on, I wouldn't make you and Tatsumi wait! Don't you trust me?" I say with a pouty face, still trying to lighten up the mood slightly, though I am serious about not wanting to make Hisoka and Tatsumi wait for me. For a brief moment, it looks like the corners of Hisoka's lips are pulling up into a slight smile, but then there is no smile. Maybe it was just my imagination. He really does need to smile more. I swear, one day I'm just going to pull at his cheeks and force him to smile. He'll yell at me, of course, but it will be funny nevertheless.

"Trust you to get up in the morning? Not really." This time, he actually does give me a little smirk. Hah, so the muscles really can move that way! And here I was beginning to think his mouth was etched into a permanent frown. It begins to fade, however, as the brief moment of playful teasing is overshadowed by the anxiety of the coming case. Still, I keep a smile on my face.

"Well, see you tomorrow then, Hisoka. Sleep well."

"You too." Though we both know neither of us are going to sleep well tonight.

I turn and head down the road to my house.

"Don't forget, 7:00!" Hisoka yells to me without looking back.

Yes, yes, seven o'clock! I wont forget!

**---Tatsumi Seiichiro---**

A flight to America to investigate a town in which not only the living have disappeared in, but a pair of Shinigami as well. In all my time working for JuOhCho, I have never heard of such a thing. Everything about this case just screams danger. Even the Chief is worried out of his mind. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have sent me along. I have done very little field work recently, mainly functioning as the secretary, yet he felt the need to send me along because of my abilities as a Shadow User. And to be working with Tsuzuki-san again...

Ever since breaking the partnership, I haven't done any fieldwork with him. Not that there has been a need, especially now that he has Kurosaki as his partner, but I don't think I could have worked with him again if I tried. It's just too hard for me, and I think it is for Tsuzuki now as well. To see the pain in his eyes when things do not turn out good or when he feels responsible for the loss of a life...it's just too much for me to bear.

And yet, I accepted. I didn't say anything against this twisted case, I didn't suggest somebody else go along in my place. Perhaps it's because I know this could be extremely dangerous that I agreed to come along. I want to protect Tsuzuki and Kurosaki. Working in a group will be unusual, but perhaps it won't be that bad. After all, Kurosaki will be there, so working with Tsuzuki will be easier. Plus, if anything should happen to Tsuzuki, Kurosaki will be able to help. I won't need to worry about losing my ability to think clearly and make a wrong decision.

I glance over at my alarm clock. Eleven-thirty. I should probably get some sleep. That is, if I can sleep at all.

**---Kurosaki Hisoka---**

Fog. Fog everywhere, and no sign of either Tsuzuki nor Tatsumi. Why does it feel so lonely? So empty? I need to find them. I can't stand this feeling of loneliness, and I'm worried something might have happened to them. Yet, not matter how far I walk, I'm not progressing at all. Why can't I move forward? Now there is a dull buzzing noise in the distance. An alarm, as if warning me of something. It's getting louder, closer, louder still, as if something is approaching, something dangerous, something deadly...

I awake with a start to the buzzing of my alarm clock. Six-thirty already? Ugh. I fumble with the clock and manage to switch the alarm off. Sitting up, I stretch and let out a yawn. How many hours of sleep did I get last night? Three? I don't remember what time I fell asleep, just that I was tossing and turning the majority of the night. I finally had fallen asleep, then had a nightmare that woke me up. I can't seem to recall what it was now, but apparently I managed to fall asleep again. I vaguely remember looking at the clock several times during the night, most of which were the early hours of the morning. At least, I think I looked at the time...or was that a dream about not being able to sleep? I've had those before. Sometimes it's hard to separate dream from reality when you wake up in the middle of the night, barely conscious before slipping back into sleep again. Ah, it doesn't matter now anyway. I'll probably fall asleep on the plane. At least, I hope I will. I've never been on a plane before, so I don't really know what to expect. Here's to hoping I can at least get in a nap.

Still tired, I get up, take a shower, get dressed, brush my teeth and hair, grab my suitcase (we don't know how long the case will be, so packing for a few days is always a good idea), and head out the door. I hope Tsuzuki got up like he said he was going to. I really don't want to have to stand there ringing the doorbell and banging on the door until he wakes up. Unless he forgot to lock his door, in which case I think I'd go jump on him. He wouldn't expect that. It might actually be funny.

In only a few minutes, I'm standing at Tsuzuki's doorstep. Time to see if he managed to drag himself out of bed. I ring the doorbell once and wait. Much to my surprise, the door actually opens. Even more surprising is the fact Tsuzuki's dressed, with the exception of a tie.

He smiles. "Hisoka! I'll be ready in just a minute, just gotta brush my teeth. We are going to get breakfast at the airport or on the way, right? I didn't get to eat yet..."

Of course he's worried about breakfast. I swear there is nothing that man enjoys more than food. "Yes, Tsuzuki, we'll get something before we get on the plane. Now finish getting ready so we can go to Tatsumi's."

"Okay, I'll only be a minute! You don't need to stand out there you know, come in until I'm ready."

I don't really see the point in going in if we are only going back out in a minute, but I follow him in anyway. He tells me not to worry about taking my shoes off since he'll be quick and motions to the couch, so I take a seat while he scurries off to the bathroom to finish getting ready. Taking a look around, it's obvious that cleaning was not on his list of things to do before leaving. His rug needs to be vacuumed and I can see a few dirty dishes still in the sink. Ew, is he really going to leave those there?

Figuring it will only take as long for me to clean those dishes as it will for Tsuzuki to finish getting ready, I walk over to the sink and start washing his dishes. I probably shouldn't be cleaning for him, but I can't stand the thought of dirty dishes sitting there for a few days while we are gone. Tsuzuki comes back out just as I'm scrubbing the last two plates.

"What are you doing?"

I roll my eyes. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm cleaning these dishes. No way you are leaving them here for however long it takes for us to do this case. That's disgusting. I actually planned for you to have not been ready when I got here just in case, but since you were, I had time."

"Hey, give me some credit! I told you I'd be ready! I don't lie!"

"Fine. You were right. What do you want me to do, buy you a cookie?"

"Yes, a cookie sounds good, actually." I can hear the grin in Tsuzuki's voice. It was actually a rhetorical question, but whatever. I probably should have known better than to ask that and not expect a yes. Whether he knew I didn't actually mean it or not, he'd still answer.

I put the last dish in the strainer to dry, wipe my hands on the hand towel and turn to face Tsuzuki. "Okay, next time we see cookies for sale, I'll buy you one. Though, if you think about it, I should be the one getting the cookie since I just washed your dishes." Not that I actually want a cookie, I'm just teasing him.

Tsuzuki follows me out of the kitchen and back into the living room, where both our suitcases are. "We'll buy each other a cookie."

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose? Then we might as well be buying ourselves cookies."

"Not really. It's not so much spending the money on the cookies as it is getting them for each other. Sure, we could just buy our own, but that takes away the purpose behind it of doing for each other."

I shrug. I guess he's right, though I wouldn't have thought of it that way. Actually, that happens often. Sometimes I admire his way of thinking, how he always tries to make others happy. He can find the smallest gestures of friendship in things that others wouldn't think of, like his cookie exchange idea. He needs to be a bit nicer to himself, though, but I'm working on that. Now I can't help but notice how the mood has gotten a little more lighthearted despite our looming mission. I guess Tsuzuki manages to have that effect even in situations such as this.

We are heading to Tatsumi's now, earlier than I expected, which will probably surprise Tatsumi as well. Tsuzuki continues to try to remain in good spirits, though I can tell he's nervous too. Hopefully everything goes smoothly. Guess I'll find out soon.

**---Tsuzuki Asato---**

After getting through security, eating breakfast and waiting for about a half hour, we finally got to board our plane. Tatsumi was happy to make it early, despite having to wait. All three of us are tired; I don't think anybody got much sleep last night. I had gotten some and am alright for the time being, but I'll probably end up taking a nap sometime during this flight. I know Hisoka is going to fall asleep soon though, he looks exhausted.

With the way the seats are arranged, having only two seats next to each other, the three of us can't sit together. Hisoka says he doesn't mind sitting alone, but Tatsumi insists he sit with me. Luckily, the seat beside Tatsumi is left empty after everyone has boarded, so we can switch around if we want to talk without Tatsumi having to turn around.

Soon after we are settled, the little television screens come down and they go through all the safety procedures. A few minutes after that, everything is finally ready and the airplane takes off. Once we are comfortably in the air, I get the laptop out and turn it on. Might as well finish that report. A quick glance after the last paragraph I wrote and I remember exactly where I was. A couple more paragraphs in, and Hisoka's head falls onto my shoulder. He shifts, trying to get comfortable, which is clearly not working.

"Ah, Hisoka, hold on a second."

He sits up groggily and I check the seat arm between us to see if it moves. It does, and I put it up to make it more comfortable for Hisoka. He mutters a thanks and lays his head back down on my shoulder. It still doesn't look like the most comfortable way to sleep, but given the lack of room, there isn't much choice. I pull the shade on the window down to make it a little darker for him and go back to my report. I don't get far before I'm yawning. Maybe a nap is a good idea. I save the document, shut the laptop down and try to fall asleep myself. I wonder what's going to happen once we get to Silent Hill? What are we going to find? Different scenarios start flashing through my mind, none of which are good. Are the Shinigami still on their mission and just somehow lost contact? Were they killed? It takes a lot to kill a Shinigami, not something a normal human could do. What if we were up against demons or something?

Hisoka suddenly groans and I glance over. Oops, those thoughts are affecting his dreams. I quickly banish all negative thoughts about the case and grasp his hand, trying to calm him down. I don't want to have to wake him up, but I will if I can't stop his nightmares. His fingers close on my hand and he visibly relaxes. Good, I don't have to wake him.

"Is he okay?" Tatsumi asks, looking back at Hisoka with a worried expression.

"Yeah, he's fine now."

Tatsumi turns around and goes back to whatever work he was doing on his laptop. I yawn again and put my head back. I try my best to keep my mind off the case, for Hisoka's sake, and close my eyes. Now if I can just...fall asleep...


	2. Welcome to Silent Hill

**---Tatsumi Seiichiro---**

When we arrived at the hotel, it was about eleven in the morning. The three of us had slept on the plane, so we won't need to take a nap before we leave for Silent Hill. In fact, after such a long plane ride, I'm sure all of us are ready to start the investigation. But, of course, as soon as we get to our room, Tsuzuki wants food.

"Tatsumi, can we order something to eat? I'm hungry."

"Didn't you eat an hour ago?" Kurosaki asks.

"Yeah, but they don't give you much to eat, I want a real meal."

"We'll get something before we leave." I say, setting my suitcase beside one of the beds.

Tsuzuki smiles, but it slowly fades as he thinks about something. "Er...could you order, Tatsumi? I don't think they'll understand me."

I sigh. "Yes, I will order." Luckily, between Kurosaki and I, we know enough English to get by. Tsuzuki, however, knows little more than a handful of words.

"Thank you, Tatsumi!" he says in broken English, two of the English words he actually does know.

I begin to look for a menu when I remember that it is morning. Most places will probably be closed or only offering breakfast right now. However, I am pretty sure the hotel offers a free breakfast down in the lobby. Perfect!

"Actually, it is still only breakfast time. Let us go down to the lobby, the hotel offers free breakfast."

At this, Tsuzuki frowns. "But, Tatsumi! Those free hotel breakfasts usually don't taste that good."

"Tsuzuki-san, we must take what we can get, unless you do not want to eat at all?" I speak calmly, but he knows that I am dead serious. He whines, but gives in, knowing there is no alternative.

"Fine. You are so mean, Tatsumi!"

One second he's thanking me, and the next he's calling me mean. So very like Tsuzuki. "We are in a foreign country and have a limited budget. We must save money where we can."

Tsuzuki walks out, and Kurosaki and I also go down to get some food- since the town we are to investigate is deserted and thus we will have no access to food while there- then bring it back to our room to do some research before leaving. Kurosaki pulls his and Tsuzuki's laptop from Tsuzuki's suitcase and starts it up.

"Mmm, this muffin is actually pretty good!" Tsuzuki says through a mouthful of food.

I shake my head. He has the personality of a 5-year-old sometimes. Happy with me, then angry at me, then complaining about the food, then he actually tries it enjoys it. Still, I can't stay mad at him for very long.

"There are a lot of rumors about Silent Hill." Kurosaki suddenly says, eating his breakfast while he browses the internet. Tsuzuki and I move to sit on either side of him to see what he is looking at. Tsuzuki frowns at the screen, which is filled with various search results, all in English.

"Can you tell what all of that says?" He asks.

"No, not all of it, but from what I can tell, all of it has to do with something supernatural. Apparently it used to be quite a busy town."

"But it's abandoned now, right?"

"Yes."

"Then what happened?"

"Did you not read the case files, Tsuzuki-san?" I ask, glancing over at Tsuzuki. He gives a sheepish grin.

"Ah...not really..."

I sigh. All that time on the plane, and he didn't even look at them. "The town has quite a history dating back to the 1600's. Rituals have taken place in it, and it's been used as a camp for prisoners of war. It became a famous tourist town later on. Cults started up and human sacrifices and necromancy were performed. The goal of these cults was to resurrect a god that they believed would bring an age of paradise by killing humans. There's also mention of witches, demons, a fire and plagues. Of course, not all of this can be confirmed. Though some of it is fact, some is merely speculation, though the town's history is deeply involved in the supernatural."

Tsuzuki frowns. "If that's the case, demons may have gotten into the town, which would explain why it's abandoned. But that still doesn't explain how two Shinigami went missing. It wouldn't make sense for demons to stick around in an abandoned town, and there would have to be either a lot of them or some very powerful ones to take down a pair of Shinigami. Surely the ones sent on the mission to begin with were strong to be given a case in a town with such a history. The Shinigami must still be in there somewhere and just lost contact. I don't see how they could just disappear. It just doesn't make sense."

As much as I want to tell him that he's probably right about the Shinigami, I have doubts that they are still alive. It's been a week since anybody last heard from the pair, and Shinigami don't just go missing like that.

"The only way we are going to know anything for sure is if we go check it out." Kurosaki says, bringing up a different window on the laptop. "I'll write the Chief and let him know we've arrived at the hotel and that we'll be away on the case for a while."

"Now, the hard part is actually getting to the town. Since the town is abandoned and has such a dark history, I'm sure that nobody is going to bring us there. Besides, it would take us about half a day to get there by car. Now, I could try to get us there via the Shadow Dimension, but I don't know how close I can get. It's quite far for that and would take a lot of energy."

"I can always get us there by Shikigami the rest of the way." Tsuzuki offers, "I don't want you to use up so much energy at once, especially before we even start the case."

"How about this, then. I'll see how far I can get us without tiring myself out, and you can take care of getting us there the rest of the way with a Shikigami if need be."

"Sounds good!"

"Alright. Make sure you have everything you need, because it might be a while before we are able to come back here."

"I'm ready." Kurosaki says, closing the laptop and putting it into his suitcase.

Tsuzuki grabs his trench coat and quickly gets it on. "Me too!"

"Alright. Let's head outside and I'll get us all into the Shadow Dimension there."

The three of us walk out, me being the last one, take the elevator down to the first floor, leave the hotel and head over to the side of the building. A quick glance around confirms nobody is nearby to see us suddenly vanish. I pull in the shadows nearby, using them to open the portal to the Shadow Dimension. They creep up and begin to form a dome around us, until soon we are completely enveloped by darkness.

**---Kurosaki Hisoka---**

The sign in front of the town is old, but legible. "Welcome to Silent Hill" I read aloud to nobody in particular. The lights hanging over the top that would normally illuminate the welcome sign at night are broken, both of them having shattered light bulbs. There is a thin fog surrounding us, seeming to come from the town itself.

"This place looks creepy..." Tsuzuki says, staring into the town ahead.

"Given its history, it should be." I mumble, mentally going over all the things that had presumably happened in this town. Rituals, sacrifices, necromancy, plagues, abandonment...its no wonder people avoid the place.

Tatsumi starts forward. "Let's keep going. The faster we get through this, the better."

Tsuzuki and I follow. It feels as if we a damning ourselves by walking past that welcome sign. I'm not sure if it's because of the town's history or some kind of dark aura emanating from it, but it's very unnerving.

"Why is it so foggy?" Tsuzuki asks as we enter the town. The fog really is getting thicker, and it's becoming hard to see.

"I don't know, but stay close together. It will be hard to keep track of each other if we can't see each other." Tatsumi says, glancing at each of us before looking forward again.

Tatsumi doesn't have to tell me to keep close before I wander closer to Tsuzuki. I don't like the feeling of this town. Despite Tatsumi and Tsuzuki being right next to me, it feels as if, by being only a few steps away from them, they will vanish, leaving me all alone in this giant town. The fact that I can't feel anything outside of Tsuzuki and Tatsumi is disturbing. I'm so used to feeling the presence of others that, by there being nothing other than them, it makes me feel as if I'm stepping right into one of my own nightmares.

"Are you okay, Hisoka?" As usual, Tsuzuki knows when something is bothering me.

"I'll be alright. It's just kind of unnerving...I can't feel anything, other than you and Tatsumi, of course. There's just...nothing. It feels so empty."

Tsuzuki's worry deepens. "You can't feel any other Shinigami in the area?"

"No...though I can only stretch my powers out so far. If there is anybody, they could be beyond my range. But...Tsuzuki...just prepare yourself for the possibility that there is nobody else alive here." I don't like having to say that to him, but I have to. I don't want him to have false hope and be crushed if we don't find the missing Shinigami.

"I know..."

It's silent for a moment, both Tsuzuki and Tatsumi filled with worry, only adding to the already unsettling feeling of the atmosphere. "Where should we start?" I ask, breaking the silence.

"I'm...not sure..." Tatsumi says, clearly upset with the fact he doesn't know where to begin. "Normally it would help to split up, but, in this situation, I'm not sure that's a good idea."

Not only is it not the best idea, seeing as none of us have any clue as to where we are going and can't see more than five feet in front of us with such dense fog, but I honestly do not want to split up. For once, the thought of being alone frightens me.

"Let's just look around and try to find something." Tsuzuki says, also seeming to not want to split up. "Hisoka, you can pick up on traces of the Shinigami if you come across any, right?"

I nod. "I might have to touch it, depending on how long it's been since one of them have been around whatever object it is, but yes. I'll keep alert for anything. It won't be hard, seeing as there is absolutely nothing else in this town for me to pick up on. If I find anything, it'll probably belong to them."

Tsuzuki looks around, apparently trying to find something amidst the fog. "I don't see any demons. If there were any, I'm sure they would have attacked us by now. By the descriptions we heard, the place should be crawling with them."

Tatsumi suddenly stops. "Do either of you hear that?"

Tsuzuki and I also stop walking. Now that I'm listening, I can hear what sounds like a dull static coming from a radio or a television. Was it something from the Shinigami? We try to follow the sound, and know we are going in the right direction when it gets louder.

"There." Tatsumi says, leaning down to pick something up. A radio? He plays with the dial, but it emits nothing other than static. Still turning the dial, he puts it to his ear, presumably seeing if he can hear anything. For a brief moment, he loses his composure, fear flashing across his face before he quickly masks it.

Tsuzuki frowns, concerned. "Tatsumi? Is something wrong?"

"No, it's fine. Did you happen to hear anything other than the static?"

"No...did you, Hisoka?"

I shake my head. "It just sounded like static to me. Did you hear something?"

"I thought I did but...ah, probably just my imagination. This thing is broken, though I don't know what it could be doing here. Kurosaki, see if you can pick up an any traces left on it. I'm not sure what it would be doing here, but somebody must have had it recently."

I take the radio from Tatsumi's hand and grip it, trying to find any lingering energies left on it. I can feel Tatsumi's fear quickly flash through me, fear of the words barely audible amongst the static emitting from the radio. Why...ill...chiro... Whatever it was, I can't make it out, though Tatsumi certainly had gotten something out of it, and it had terrified him. Other than Tatsumi's, however, I can't seem to find anything. There's no way a radio would still be working if it was left here for so long that the traces of whoever held it are gone. So why can't I find anything? "I...can't' pick up anything, other than you, Tatsumi..."

"Nothing?" Tatsumi asks, raising an eyebrow. "Did I somehow overpower it when I picked the radio up?"

"No, I should still be able to pick up on any other people that have touched it recently. Everyone has a different signature, so if anybody else touched it, I'd be able to pick it out from yours. I know your signature well enough."

"Tatsumi, Hisoka!"

I turn around at the sound of Tsuzuki's alarmed voice. A creature stands before us, humanoid in appearance, but disturbingly not human. It has no face, just a single hole where a mouth would be, and looks as if it's trapped in a sickly flesh-colored straightjacket. It walks forward unsteadily, and I swear the static on the radio has gotten louder.

The shadows nearby begin to quiver as Tatsumi readies to attack. "A demon?!"

Tsuzuki shakes his head. "It doesn't look like any kind of demon I have ever seen. I don't know _what_ this is..."

The creature stops walking, wiggles, and rears back, as if ready to spit something out. The three of us quickly move back just as a foul, horrid-smelling substance sprays from the hole that is its mouth. Before another move can be made, a shadow leaps out from somewhere beside Tatsumi, piercing through the creature and beheading it. A shrill cry comes from the creature as it falls. Its body twitches on the ground, some dark liquid oozing from its neck where its head once was, forming a puddle around the body. It finally stops moving, laying lifeless in its own blood.

"I think we found the problem..." I mutter, almost afraid to raise my voice any higher.

"But it died easy enough...Shinigami wouldn't lose contact because of things like that." Tsuzuki says, still not taking his eyes off the monster.

Tatsumi adjusts his glasses. "That may only be one of many. Either way, now we know there are definitely demons of some sort in this place."

"Still...that wasn't a typical demon. It looked too...human..."

I glance over at Tsuzuki. "It is humanoid in appearance, but it is far from human, Tsuzuki."

"The point is, we haven't dealt with anything like this before. I can assure you that that is not the same as the demons we usually face."

It isn't until now that I remember the radio in my hand. Strange, it's gotten quiet. Did the batteries die? It had gotten so loud when that monster was near...then just went silent when the monster died? I think this case is already getting to me. Radios don't react to monsters. Wait...is it starting up again? I stare at the radio, and, sure enough, can hear the low static, gradually getting louder. Before I have a chance to point it out, another shadow flies by and another screech echoes through the silence. The static fades as Tatsumi kills another monster.

"This is going to sound crazy, but I think this radio is reacting to the monsters."

Both Tatsumi and Tsuzuki look over at the radio in my hand, which has once again gone quiet.

"That's...convenient." Tsuzuki says.

I stick the radio in my pocket, despite feeling silly for keeping an old radio that has somehow made me believe it alerts us of nearby creatures. "Let's keep moving. Standing around here isn't going to get us anywhere."

As we walk on, we pass several abandoned cars on the sides of the road. The houses all look old and dilapidated. There are no lights on, the only source of light being the sun, and even that seems to try to avoid this town. There are no animals. Not even a single bird in the sky. The place has definitely been abandoned for quite some time. At least the trees are still green and alive, though, other than them and some grass here and there, greenery is in very short supply. Funny how you don't learn to appreciate things such as plants until they aren't there anymore. I guess it's true what they say: you don't know what you have until it's gone.

"Still can't feel anything, Hisoka?"

"No. Nothing. I couldn't even sense those monsters. Maybe we should look for places the Shinigami likely visited, like indoors. There might be some things there they touched that will give me something." If they had been here, chances are they were terrified, so if I could just find something they touched, I'd at least be able to pick up their fear.

"That sounds like a good idea." Tatsumi says, "Let's take a look around the larger buildings. The creatures probably aren't inside, so we can get away from them as well."

For a little while, it feels like we aren't getting anywhere. It's hard to figure out where you are going when you can hardly see your surroundings. I wonder if it's always been so foggy? Never have I seen such a dense fog, it's ridiculous. How could anybody live in this? No way it could have always been this bad.

The shape of a large building catches my attention. A hospital. Seems a good place to start to me. We might be able to get some information and possibly find the two Shinigami, if they are even still around.

I grab the handle to the door, hoping to pick up traces from somebody, anybody, but there is nothing. I frown, open the door and walk in, Tsuzuki behind me and Tatsumi behind him.

Inside the building is rather dark, with the only source of light being what little sunlight there is coming in through the windows, which certainly isn't going to help anywhere but the immediate area. Straight ahead of us is a door, to the left of which is a sign that reads, "office". Probably a good place to start. Hopefully they will have some flashlights or something.

I walk forward and open the door to the office. Once inside, I begin going through the drawers, trying to find anything that could helps us. Pens, doctors' files, patients' files, paperclips, staplers...nothing particularly useful. I suppose the files of the patients could possibly have some clues as to what happened to the people of the town, but that isn't going to help us track down the missing Shinigami, and right now, that is our top priority.

"There are a lot of patients' files here, we should stop by here again before we leave the hospital and take them with us to examine later on."

"That sounds like a good idea." Tatsumi says with a nod.

I look over at Tsuzuki, who is currently rummaging through a cabinet. "Find any flashlights?"

"No. I can probably help with that, though." He pulls a few blank ofuda out of a pocket somewhere on the inside of his trench coat along with a marker. Spreading them out on a table, he begins writing on one of them. Once done, he holds it up. The ofuda suddenly shines bright, casting a decent light on the room.

Tsuzuki grins. "It's not the best, but it will work." The light fades out and he hands it to Tatsumi. "Here, I know you don't use ofuda, but this is a very simple one to use. Just focus a very small amount of energy into it when you need some light. It'll gradually wear out though, so keep that in mind. I'll make a few more."

Tsuzuki may be viewed as incompetent due to his laziness, but when it comes to ofuda, he certainly knows what he is doing. He's the most experienced with them out of everyone in our division, probably one of the best out of all the Shinigami. Another reminder about how much work I still have to do before I can catch up to his skill level.

"Can I make my own?" I ask before Tsuzuki begins working on the second one. The more experience I can get, the better.

"Sure! Just watch how I do this one, then you can do your own."

I nod and watch Tsuzuki mark his. Why can't his handwriting be that nice when he's filling out paperwork? He could probably take up calligraphy if he wanted to. His strokes are somewhat fast, yet it comes out looking so much better than his usual handwriting. I'll bring that to his attention next time he does a sloppy job with his paperwork.

Once the second ofuda was done, Tsuzuki slid another blank one over to me and handed me his marker. "Just write it how I did. It's basically just a spell to dispel darkness."

"I didn't know ofuda could be used that way." I say, taking the marker.

Tsuzuki shrugs. "You can do a lot with them, actually, if you know how to modify and alter other spells. Of course, if you mess it up, it might cause some undesirable effects. Once I accidentally made one explode in my face." He gives an embarrassed chuckle. "My face was covered in ash and it singed some of my hair."

I shake my head. Count on Tsuzuki to manage something like that.

Sliding Tsuzuki's completed ofuda right next to my blank one for reference, I begin writing out the spell. Other than the difference in our handwriting, I'd say mine is a good replica of Tsuzuki's. I hold it up between my thumb and index finger and concentrate a small amount of energy into it in order to activate it. It lights up, just like the one Tatsumi is now holding did. I grin a little, satisfied with the result.

"Alright! Good job, Hisoka!" Tsuzuki says, smiling, then turns to Tatsumi. "Do you want to try too, Tatsumi?"

Tatsumi shakes his head. "No, that's okay. Thank you though, Tsuzuki-san. I'll be fine with this. Let's continue on."

We exit the office with the intent of returning before we leave, and take a left down the hall. As we reach the next corner, Tsuzuki suddenly stops, holding out his ofuda and squinting down the hall. "Is that...it looks like a person! Tatsumi, Hisoka, I think we found one of the Shinigami!"

I look over in the direction Tsuzuki is facing. At the end of the hall to our right, the silhouette of what appears to be a human is standing, moving slowly, as if lost. Still, that doesn't mean it _is_ a human. Though it is taller than those monsters we saw earlier and seems to actually have arms, it could very well just be another demon. A low static reaches my ears.

"Tsuzuki, that's not-" Tsuzuki runs ahead before he even bothers to listen to what I have to say. No, idiot, get back here! "Tsuzuki! You idiot, wait!"

I run after him, Tatsumi running beside me. Something suddenly crawls out from who-knows-where, right into our path. I hear myself yelp as I stumble back, almost falling over from trying to avoid the thing. It moves fast, and suddenly it's at my feet. No, get away from me! I kick it, trying to get it back, but that doesn't seem to do much. It reaches out a bone-thin arm and grabs one of my ankles. I get ready to stomp on it, but a shadow quickly severs the hand. A second shadow pierces through the mid-section of the creature, killing it almost instantly. The hand, however, is still grasping my ankle. Ew. I balance on one foot, lifting my other to pry the hand off. I shudder as I grab the cold, dismembered hand, yanking it off my ankle and quickly throwing it to the side. Gross. I never want to have to do that again.

There is the sudden sound of something large crumbling, and Tsuzuki yells. I look ahead of me, but neither Tsuzuki nor whatever he chased after are in sight. All that remains is a large hole in the floor.

"Tsuzuki!" I run forward with Tatsumi behind me, and stop at the edge of the hole. Getting on my hands and knees, I peek over the edge, trying to see where Tsuzuki landed. It's pitch-black. Not even the light from the ofuda can illuminate any more than the top of the hole.

"Tsuzuki! Tsuzuki, answer me!" I reach out with my empathy, hoping find out how far down he is or to at least find out if he's injured or not. Nothing. I can't feel anything around me, nothing other than Tatsumi. Why can't I sense Tsuzuki?! I get ready to jump down the hole myself, fearing something had happened to him when Tatsumi grabs my arm and pulls me back.

"Kurosaki-kun! What are you doing? You can't jump down there without knowing where it leads! "

I whirl around to face him. "Tatsumi-san, I can't sense Tsuzuki! It shouldn't go down that far to where my empathy won't reach him! He could have been knocked unconscious! He could be hurt!"

"Calm down! Panicking isn't going to help us. We can find another way down and look for him." He puts a hand on my shoulder. "I know you are worried, I am too, but we'll find him."

I nod. I hope he is right. I know Tsuzuki can recover quickly and can hold his own in battle but...ever since the incident in Kyoto, I've been kind of scared. Scared of losing Tsuzuki for good. I don't want that to happen. I may be over-reacting, but I can't help it.

Tatsumi turns around (seeing as there is no safe way around the large gap in the floor), taking up a brisk pace to find the nearest staircase with me beside him.

Please don't do anything stupid, Tsuzuki...


	3. Beginning of a Nightmare

**---Tsuzuki Asato---**

Ow...that hurt.

I push some rubble off of myself and get to my feet, brushing myself off. How far did I fall? It wouldn't have been a problem if I could have flown, but, for some reason, I couldn't even slow my descent. I should be able to fly like I normally do. The fact that I couldn't is a big problem. The town is somehow blocking our abilities. If it can block that, there's a chance it can block other things too.

I look up, trying to see where I fell from, but I can't see past the hole in the ceiling, even with the light from the ofuda.

"Tatsumiiii! Hisokaaaa!" I yell, hoping they will hear me. The only response is the echo of my own voice. Looks like I'll have to find a way back up. Why did the floor give out in the first place? If it was a really old house, I could understand, but a hospital floor? It should be built studier than that. The town hasn't been abandoned _that_ long.

A foot is sticking out from beneath the rubble. I shudder, remembering the thing that I had thought was a Shinigami was actually just another monster. Guess I shouldn't have gotten myself excited. I just don't want to lose hope that the other Shinigami are still here, alive. I know Tatsumi and Hisoka don't think they are but...until I'm proven otherwise, I can at least hope they are still alive.

Well, time to look for a staircase.

The hallway on this floor (whatever floor I'm on) is a lot different than the previous one. In fact, it's just one hall straight down, with no turns or other corridors branching off of this one. Doors line either side of the hall relatively close together, signifying small rooms. I'll investigate them later though. Right now, I just need to find Tatsumi and Hisoka. They are probably worried about me, and I don't want to make them worry any more. The faster I rejoin them, the better. Since the way behind me is blocked by rubble from my fall, the only way to go is forward. Hopefully that door at the end is a staircase.

Taking up a brisk pace, I head for the other end of the corridor. Once there, I turn the knob and open the door.

The staircase on the other side only goes down.

Only down? What staircase in the middle of floors only goes down?! How do I get back up?! Oh, no...that must mean the staircase going up is on the other side of all that rubble. Ooh, why couldn't I have blocked the down staircase? There isn't even an elevator I can use! I'm going to have to try to clear enough of that rubble so I can squeeze past and find the way back up. I pull an ofuda out of one of the pockets in my coat. Looks like blasting them away is my only choice, because I certainly can't push it all away.

Turning around, I walk back in the direction I came from. I stop a few feet away from the rubble, focus some energy and swing the ofuda, sending a blast of energy at the pile. It doesn't budge. Okay then, let's try a stronger blast. Using a bit more energy than last time, I try again. Same result. Gah! I'm stuck down here?!

I sigh and stick the halfway-used ofuda back in my pocket. I don't want to waste all of my ofuda just trying to unblock my path. I need to save some for those monsters. Guess I'll just have to wait for the other two to find the way down here. Tatsumi might be more successful than me at moving the rubble. There are plenty of shadows around to draw from, so he should be able to move enough so that I can fit through. Well, might as well investigate while I'm waiting.

The first door I try is the one directly to my left, which leads into a white, padded room. These rooms must be for mental patients. The rooms for those patients whom doctors have given up on.

Just like the time before Muraki's grandfather kept me.

I can remember the time I'd been forced into a straight-jacket and tossed into a padded room, just like this one. I'd been desperate to kill myself, before I had completely lost my sanity. The doctors tried to stop me, but I refused to listen to them. They'd forced the knife from my hands, held me back to prevent me from harming myself anymore, bandaged my bleeding wrist, strapped me into a straight-jacket and locked me in a padded room. After that, the only way to kill myself was to refuse food and water. That backfired, however, when Muraki's grandfather found out I was still alive despite not eating any of my meals, and he took me in.

No...this isn't the time to think about those things. I'd prefer to forget them altogether, but there are some things that I can't forget no matter how hard I try. They may go away for a while, but the right thing, the right trigger, just like this room, brings the dark memories back.

As I turn around to leave, something on one of the walls catches my eye. There, written in deep, reddish-brown, what looks like dried blood, are the words 'HELP ME'.

Help me...surely the writer didn't want anybody to save his life. No, he wanted to be free. To be free from the pain, the agony. To be saved from what was holding him down, chaining him to his pain. To be released from life.

To die.

Ah, Asato! Snap out of it! You have a job to do! There are Shinigami to be found, and you have to rejoin Tatsumi and Hisoka! Well, Tatsumi and Hisoka should be okay, they can protect each other, but still, you have to find out what happened to those Shinigami. If they are still here...they must need help.

I get back to my feet- apparently, I had sunk to my knees at some point- and leave the room. Once back in the hall, I take a deep breath, trying to steady myself. My hands are shaking slightly, but I'm calming down. Just focus on the mission...think about finding the Shinigami, think about rejoining Tatsumi and Hisoka. In fact, I had better calm down if I want to rejoin Tatsumi and Hisoka. Hisoka's empathy will pick up on such thoughts almost instantly and have him asking questions until I finally talk to him.

Before, when we first became partners, he didn't ask me anything. A little while later, he'd bring up whenever he felt I was distressed, but wouldn't press the issue when I changed the subject or ignored it. Lately, however, he's been far more persistent. I suppose because he feels more comfortable with me now and isn't afraid to ask, and he is one of the most stubborn people I've ever met. It used to be easy to trick him, but he can see right through me now. It's almost impossible to convince him I'm alright when I'm not; he knows me too well. Good thing he isn't around right now.

Well, now what? I'm sure checking the rest of these rooms would be a waste of time. I don't want to just sit around and do nothing, but I also don't want to wander too far so that Tatsumi and Hisoka can find me.

Oh! I know! I'll just leave a path for Hisoka to follow. There's absolutely nobody and nothing around, so he'll be able to trace me easily. Touch enhances his abilities, so anything I touched will help too. Now I can investigate downstairs while leaving a path for Hisoka to follow so he knows where I went! All that rubble is a problem though...they might not know I came this way with the path blocked. I'll have to send a messenger, that will lead them here!

I pull out an ofuda and activate it, watching it fold itself into an origami bird, then transforming into my familiar. The small, white bird perches on my extended finger.

"Go find Tatsumi and Hisoka, let them know I'm alright and lead them back to me."

With a bell-like chirp, the bird takes off, flying up through the hole in the ceiling I fell from. Tatsumi and Hisoka know my familiar well, so they should have no trouble. It's really not hard to recognize; it has the same color eyes as me, which clearly distinguishes it from all other birds (not that there are any other birds around right now). Now to just leave a path to make it all that much easier for them.

Keeping my hand on the wall, I walk back down the hall, making a point to grasp the doorknobs and focusing my thoughts on investigating whatever area those stairs lead. Hopefully the fact I purposely left a path will also let Hisoka know I'm alright. I don't want them to worry about me, they need to look out for themselves.

Now, time to see where these stairs lead...

**---Tatsumi Seiichiro---**

"Tatsumi-san!"

Stopping, I look over at Kurosaki. He is pointing to something, and it only takes a quick glance to figure out what it is.

Flying towards us is a small, white bird, clearly out of place. Tsuzuki's familiar! It lands on Kurosaki's outstretched finger with a chirp, its small, purple eyes staring into Kurosaki's. Kurosaki nods, as if some silent communication had occurred between the two, and turns to me.

"I think Tsuzuki is alright, just lost." He turns his attention back to the bird. "Alright, lead us to him!"

With another chirp, the bird stretches its wings, leaps off Kurosaki's finger and flies down the hall. Without wasting a moment, Kurosaki and I follow. The bird leads us around a corner and to a door. Kurosaki tries to open it only to find it jammed.

"Step back, Kurosaki-kun." As he steps aside, I pull up shadows from around me. If it won't open, then I'll force it open. I send the shadows flying at the door, blasting it open. As the shadows subside, Tsuzuki's familiar flies through the doorway, down another set of stairs, and we continue on our way.

The stairwell leads to a hall, which is, unfortunately, blocked by a large amount of debris. The bird flutters about, chirping. This must be where Tsuzuki fell. Normally, I'd think falling through the floor would result in him being trapped under the debris, but that can't be the case. If that was true, he wouldn't have been able send his familiar out to find us. Besides, Kurosaki seemed to sense that Tsuzuki was alright. He must have gotten lucky when he landed.

"Tsuzuki!" Kurosaki calls out, but there is no response, which is a little unsettling. If Tsuzuki is right on the other side of this debris, he should be able to hear us. I suppose it's possible he moved. I hope that is the only reason for him not responding.

Luckily, shadows are plentiful, so it doesn't take as much energy to manipulate them. It does, however, take a lot of energy to try to move the large chunks of ceiling from the past.

"Do you want me to help, Tatsumi-san?" Kurosaki asks, pulling an ofuda from a pocket in his jeans.

I shake my head. "Save your ofuda, Kurosaki-kun. The shadows are almost unlimited here, but you have a limited amount of charms. I'll take care of it." Focusing on the task before me, I begin using the shadows to move the debris away. After a bit of prodding, pushing and pulling, I get enough chunks free to collapse the pile and give us a spot to crawl through. As the shadows fall back into place, I walk forward, Kurosaki behind me, and crawl over the debris.

Tsuzuki isn't on the other side.

His familiar flutters about the hall. This must be where Tsuzuki summoned it, but then where is he?

"Tsuzuki!" Kurosaki yells again. "Where did he go?" As he grasps one of the door handles, presumably to check inside, he suddenly freezes. Has he sensed something?

"Kurosaki-kun?"

"He's been here. And something scared him."

"Scared him?" I look around, trying to see if there are any monsters, or monster corpses, but there is nothing. "What could have scared him?"

Kurosaki opens the door and steps inside the room. I follow him in. A padded room? It doesn't look like much...wait, what is that, on the wall? Turning to fully face one of the walls, the words 'HELP ME' are written across it sloppily, appearing to be written with blood. "No wonder he was scared." I mutter my thoughts aloud.

"Tatsumi-san...I'm worried. I don't want a repeat of Kyoto."

"Don't worry, Kurosaki-kun, we'll find him. He couldn't have gone too far. Let's continue searching." Despite my reassurances, I can't help but worry as well. Tsuzuki breaks easily, and there is just something about this place that makes us all seem fragile. Tsuzuki shouldn't be left by himself here for long.

As we leave the room and start down the hall, Kurosaki trails his hand along the wall. I give him a questioning look, and he explains.

"I can still sense Tsuzuki. The fear seems to be fading away as we walk...it's getting slightly more...reassuring I guess...I think he purposely left a trail for me to follow. It wouldn't be this strong if he hadn't touched the wall."

Purposely left a trail? Impressive, on both their parts. Not only has Kurosaki's control over his abilities strengthened considerably since he first became a Shinigami, but for Tsuzuki to think about leaving something for Kurosaki to sense... They really do work well together. Partnering them together may have been the best thing for Tsuzuki. Kurosaki does a far better job of it than I had.

"Then you can track him?"

"As long as he continued to leave a trail for me, yes. From what I can gather, he seems to be alright, but we should still hurry. He can only take so much, despite what he tries to communicate to everyone else."

I nod, agreeing wholeheartedly, and let Kurosaki take the lead. He continues down to the end of the hall where we are met by yet another staircase. We descend, Tsuzuki's familiar still flittering around us. I noticed it's getting darker, and look at the ofuda in my hand. The marks that Tsuzuki made earlier are wearing off, the paper looking worn, and the light is growing dimmer. Kurosaki seems to notice as well, and reaches into his pocket to pull out a spare blank. He stops, takes out a marker similar to the one Tsuzuki had, holds the paper against the wall and writes the spell on the paper.

"That should work. Probably not as strong as Tsuzuki's, but it'll do. Just use it when that one goes out."

"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun." I say, taking the ofuda. With that taken care of, we continue down the stairs. We finally reach the bottom and find ourselves in a long, narrow hallway. Kurosaki suddenly stops and turns to face the wall to our left. I turn to see what he is looking at, and notice a strange marking on the wall. It is all red, with a sort of unnatural red glow to it. It is a circle, with a smaller circle inside of it. Between those two circles are all kinds of various glyphs, the kind of which I have never seen before. None of them have rounded edges, the glyphs are all sharp. Inside the second circle are three more circles, one on top and two at the bottom, none of them touching, with a few other sort of pictures scattered around them. It's a highly unusual marking, the type of thing you'd see in a work of fiction that represented some sort of dark magic. It is quite out of place in a hospital, basement or not.

A sudden groan from Kurosaki tears my gaze off of the strange symbol. He is holding his head in both hands, clearly in pain. But in pain from what? "Kurosaki-kun? What's wrong?"

"Nnnn..." He sinks to his knees. "Tatsumi-san...it hurts..."

"What hurts? Kurosaki-kun, what is bothering you?" I kneel beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder. I can't help if I don't know what is wrong! I know over-stimulation to his empathetic abilities can cause him headaches, or cause him to lose consciousness, if bad enough, but the only one around who could be affecting him is me, and I certainly am not pushing anything on to him that could cause him pain, though I am growing increasingly worried. Is there something else here? I quickly flash the light from my ofuda around, but there is nothing. What could possibly be causing Kurosaki so much pain?

Kurosaki opens his mouth to answer, but the only response I get is a scream. He falls limp against me, unconscious.

"Kurosaki-kun!" No good. He's completely passed out. There's nothing around, what could have possibly done this to him?

Is that...the radio static I hear? I look down beside Kurosaki, and see the radio lying on the ground. It must have fallen out of his pocket at some point. But if it is emitting static, then...

I wave the ofuda around again, searching for a monster. Sure enough, a humanoid creature is walking towards us. It looks as if its arms are bound behind its back. Empty, black holes replace where its eyes should be, extending downward at the outermost corners. Its mouth appears to be permanently open, as if yelling out in agony. Its appearance disturbs me more than the other monsters we've seen. Those, at least, had no face.

Letting Kurosaki rest on the floor against the wall, I get to my feet, prepared to attack. Before it gets close enough to do anything, I send a shadow flying at the creature. It slices through near the creature's shoulder, disconnecting its arm from the rest of its body, leaving it to dangle uselessly where it is bound by the wrist to its other arm behind its back and leaving an uneven trail of dark blood as the creature continues forward. A long, low moan issues from the monster. I attack it again, this time cutting through its torso, leaving it in two pieces. It hits the floor and moans again, the sound dying out as the monster's life fades.

The static on the radio has not stopped, however. I pick it up. Does this thing really detect monsters? Are there more of them around? A low growling reaches my ears. Not too far away is a dog-like creature. It has no fur, leaving its sickly pale skin showing. It has four flaps at the end of its neck for a mouth, the inside lined with several rows of small, sharp teeth. A skinny, long tongue flops out from its mouth and licks at some of the blood on the ground near the now dead monster's body. It looks about ready to eat, but turns to face me instead. With a coarse sort of bark, it suddenly runs forward. Quickly, I summon up a shadow and slam it into the side of the dog-like creature, knocking it sideways into the wall. Another growl sounds. I look ahead to see another dog leaping at me. I don't have time to gather up a shadow. The creature is already in mid-leap. I quickly step to the side, narrowly avoiding the monster's jaws. The first monster is up again, and ready to pay me back for attacking it. Before it gets that chance, however, I send an attack of my own at it, causing it to bash its head against the hard wall. It falls to the ground, either unconscious or dead. With that one taken care of, I quickly spin around to face the other creature. It's attention isn't on me anymore, however. It has found prey that isn't fighting back.

The dog leaps back to its feet and leaps at Kurosaki. I send shadows bursting up from the ground between it and Kurosaki, effectively knocking the monster away. It isn't going to touch Kurosaki without dealing with me first. Luckily, it seems to understand that, and turns its attention back to me.

There's another growl from behind me.

There were three of them?! Where did they come from?! Wanting to quickly kill the one in front of me, I try to attack it. It quickly leaps away, narrowly avoiding the shadow and comes at me. I try to move, but the creature is too fast. It crashes into me, causing me to lose my balance and fall to the ground. I feel its teeth dig into my shoulder. Using a shadow, I push the dog off of me and stumble back to my feet. The wound stings, but it isn't enough to hinder me. I quickly dodge as the third dog-like creature also tries to get at me. Good, now they are both near each other. That makes it much easier on my part.

Just as they are readying themselves for another attack, I gather a large amount of shadows around me and send them shooting at the monsters. They howl in pain before falling over, dead.

Things are suddenly deadly quiet again, the only sound coming from my own heavy breaths. There isn't even the flapping of Tsuzuki's familiar anymore. Something must have happened to it during the battle. I push my glasses up- a habit of mine- and turn to go back to Kurosaki. I take a step forward, and my foot slips.

A hole?! Where did that come from?!

Ah! No! He's still up there, unconscious!

Kurosaki-kun!

**---Tsuzuki Asato---**

That scream...it sounded like Hisoka! If I can hear him...he must be nearby, and he's clearly in danger. I have to help him!

I quickly turn on my heel and run back down the hall, past all the jail cells. Somehow, the stairs going down from the hospital basement led me to a jail. I don't even want to know why there would be a jail connected to a hospital.

"Hisoka?!" I yell, hoping to get a response, but there is nothing. What's going on? I hope he's alright! Tatsumi should still be with him...what if something happened to both of them?!

I yank open the door I don't remember closing and run up the stairs. They must be just up the stairs, otherwise I wouldn't have heard them. As I reach the top, I slow down and look around, trying to find them. Where are they? I don't see them anywhere in this hall...

Wait...where am I? This isn't the same place I came from! Did I somehow take a wrong turn in my rush to find Hisoka? Gah! Not good! Alright, back down the stairs!

...or not. There is a monster blocking my path. I don't have time for this! I quickly pull out an ofuda and send one powerful blast at it, knocking it back and down the stairs. Now to get back to where I originally came from.

I walk forward, but stumble. Ugh...why am I suddenly so tired? It feels as if I've used all my energy, but I know I used nowhere near enough to exhaust me. So why? Why do I feel...so tired... I can't stop now...I have to keep going...I have to...find...Tatsumi and...Hisoka...


	4. Isolation

**---Kurosaki Hisoka---**

With a groan, I sit up, my back against a wall. The throbbing in my head has diminished to a dull headache, something much more tolerable. Looking around, I can't see Tatsumi anywhere.

"Tatsumi-san!" I call out, but the only response is the echo of my own voice. Where did he go? He wouldn't just abandon me...so what happened to him? Everything was fine until I saw that design on the wall. It wasn't something I'd ever seen before, but as soon as I looked at it, I started getting numerous flashes in my mind, flashes about this town, probably from its past. There was so much, I don't even know what I saw. As if that alone wasn't enough to overload me, the images were coupled with a throbbing that only grew in intensity until it was unbearable. I vaguely remember hearing Tatsumi speaking to me, but his voice was muffled, as if my head had been submerged underwater. It felt like my whole body had gone numb and I could just barely feel the pressure of his hand on my shoulder. I must have passed out then, because I can't remember a thing afterwards.

Reaching out with my empathy, I try to sense Tatsumi or Tsuzuki. Nothing. Not even the smallest trace of anyone. I couldn't have passed out so long that all traces of Tatsumi are gone...surely some of those monsters would have found me first. Something must have happened to Tatsumi. The monsters could have chased him...he could have led them away...he could have found Tsuzuki but got attacked...whatever the case may be, it wasn't anything good.

But sitting here thinking about it will get me nowhere. I get to my feet and look around. I didn't get a very good look at the place before I lost consciousness, so I don't really know where to start. I do know we had just come from the staircase behind me, so then I have to keep going forward.

The ofuda I had been using is almost gone now, illuminating only my immediate surroundings. I pull another out of my pocket and activate it. Walking forward, the only sound I can hear is the echoing of my own footsteps, a continuous reminder of just how _empty_ this place is. I'm so used to being able to sense at least some sort of presence around me, the fact that there is absolutely _nothing_ to sense unnerves me more than anything. Heh. And to think, I used to love being alone. I was always by myself, things were easier that way. When I first became a Shinigami, the idea of having to partner with somebody was very unappealing. I would have gladly done a mission alone. Yet now...I don't like feeling so alone. It scares me. I've grown so accustomed to Tsuzuki always being there that being separated from him like this is frightening. I don't like the idea of him being alone either, especially in a place like this. I can only hope Tatsumi already found him.

There is a door to my left, so I decide to check it out in hopes of finding any traces of Tatsumi or Tsuzuki. On the opposite side of the room, a man stands with his back to the door. He's clad in the typical outfit of a doctor. There's somebody else here after all? Strange...I didn't sense him at all...but, there he is. He must have worked here. After all, this is a hospital, but what would he still be doing here?

"Excuse me." I call out softly as not to scare him, surprised he hadn't heard me open the door. Slowly, the man turns to face me. A gasp escapes me as I see his face- or, rather, lack thereof.

He has no nose, deformed lips, and a single eye. His left eye is missing, leaving only an empty socket, the single right eye clearly inhuman. It looks fake, too large as if he has no eyelid, and pure white, save the silver pupil. He stands at an awkward angle, hunched to one side. His movements are slow and jerky. A monster with a human appearance. A glint catches my eye, and I notice he is holding a knife in his right hand. The seemingly once white clothes he is wearing are a brownish color, as if stained with blood.

As the man steps forward, I find myself rooted to my spot. I want to move, but I can't seem to bring myself to do so. He continues forward slowly, but, in this small room, he doesn't need to take many steps before he's within striking distance of me. I quickly pull out an offensive ofuda and send a blast of energy at him. The blast sends him crashing backwards, the window he was looking at shattering as his head bashes into it. He gets back to his feet, completely unfazed by the shards of glass that stuck in his head. I send another blast at him, knocking him against the wall once more. This time, he doesn't get up. I quickly turn around and exit the room, slamming the door behind me. I slip the partially used ofuda back into my pocket and lean with my back to the wall.

Why, why must he haunt me?! It was a monster, yet it looked so much like Muraki. No matter where I go, he's there. The nightmares and curse marks make sure I don't ever forget him. His presence is permanently engraved in my body and my mind. I was doomed for my entire existence the moment I saw him that night.

Ah, Hisoka, get ahold of yourself! I can't let some monster freak me out like this. I can't let Muraki win. I will persevere. I have to find Tatsumi and Tsuzuki. I picked up on Tsuzuki before, so there should be no reason why I can't do it again. We already know that this place limits our abilities somehow, so my empathy must have been affected as well. I just need a small trace, and then I should be able to track them down. I don't think they went into that room...not that I really want to go back to check. Tsuzuki had been leaving a trail for me...but I can't find where it continued. He had to have passed through here, he couldn't have just disappeared. Perhaps I will be able to pick up on it again. I just have to find it.

Taking a deep breath, I push myself off of the wall and continue on through the hallway. Were the walls always made from a rough cement? I know this is the basement...but it is still the hospital, and that last room was a patient's room...I think. Actually, I didn't pay much attention to the room, so maybe it wasn't. Bah, it doesn't matter anyway. I keep going forward, trying to find a trace of either Tsuzuki or Tatsumi. The hallway leads to another door, and another staircase down. How many basements does this hospital have? Having nowhere else to go, I follow them down. I soon find myself in a prison.

A prison underneath a hospital? Who the hell designed this place?! Looking into one of the cells makes me shudder. An underground prison...just like the one my parents locked me in when I was alive. What is with this place? Why does it keep reminding me of all the things I don't want to remember? It's as if the town is digging into my mind and bringing back the darkest parts of my past. I hope it's just me...Tsuzuki doesn't need to be reminded about his. Maybe I'm just overreacting. I don't think I've ever been so paranoid.

At least all of these cells seem to be devoid of bodies. A sobbing sound suddenly echoes from somewhere ahead. Is somebody else here? "Hello?" There is no response to my call, the sound simply continues. I look for somebody in the cells, but I can't find anyone. Odd, it sounds like it's coming from this one.

Curious, I step inside and look around. There seems to be nothing out of the ordinary. There is a sudden clang and I spin around. The door to the cell shut. I walk over and try to push it back open, but it doesn't budge. The sobbing has stopped. What is this?! I push harder, but it seems to be locked shut. How could it be locked? I just opened it to walk in, and there is nobody around to lock it! I try to kick it down but that doesn't work either. Alright then, fine. Stepping back, I pull the partially used ofuda out and try to blast the door down. It works, sending the door flying off its hinges and slamming into the bars of the opposing cell. The paper in my hand disintegrates as the last of its power is used. Well, at least I can get out of here now. I quickly walk out, not daring to step into another cell. I've spent more than enough time in one while I was alive.

On the wall after the cells, I notice the same, strange marking from before. I try to prepare myself for the onslaught of images. Oddly enough, they come slower this time. A hospital bustling with nurses and doctors tending to many patients. A young girl standing alone, other children pointing their fingers at her and laughing. The same girl, screaming in agony. A group of people gathered around a blood-covered woman in some twisted ritual. Fire burning everything in sight. And suddenly Tatsumi, his eyes filled with sorrow and guilt as he kneels upon the floor of some dark room. Tsuzuki, also kneeling, a look of defeat and torment on his face, the same look he wore that night when Muraki killed a teenage girl right in front of him then blamed her death on him.

"Tsuzuki..."

The images cease as quickly as they started. I lean up against the wall, trying to keep myself from falling over. Being bombarded by images like that is rather disorienting, though it's better than falling unconscious again. I'm actually surprised I'm still standing. But all of those images...they must be from events that have happened in this town. That means the last two have also happened...or are happening. At the very least, their emotions are heading down those paths and that's not good. I'll be damned if I'm letting Tsuzuki fall apart again. I won't let anything happen to him. I can't. And Tatsumi too, I want to make sure he is alright as well. After all...they are my family.

As the dizziness subsides, I move away from the wall to continue on my way. I can't help but think of all the images I saw. This town definitely has some malevolent energies to it. At first, I thought it was just because of how desolate it is, but there is definitely more at work. Could it be because of some dark ritual that was performed here in the past? Perhaps human sacrifices. Is the town itself somehow connected to the demon realm? I don't know much about demons though...not nearly as much as Tsuzuki. Plus, Tsuzuki said that the monsters here aren't the same kind of demon. Most of the are disturbingly humanoid, and that doctor...

That doctor looked far too much like Muraki to be a regular demon. It only had a large right eye...synonymous with Muraki's inhuman right eye, the thing that stood out the most about him when I first saw him. It was missing a nose, but it had lips that reminded me of that smirk Muraki wore when he attacked me, the smirk just before he let his lips brush over my skin, the lips that followed the trails the knife had taken, enjoying too much the blood they came into contact with. The features from Muraki that stood out the most to me were the features that monster possessed. That can't just be a coincidence. It's as if all the things I fear are being pulled from my mind and given life. Muraki, an underground prison, being trapped in a cell...I only hope the thing I fear the most doesn't happen. These things...I can survive with, but I can't bare to lose Tsuzuki.

Looking towards the door up ahead, I have to wonder if anybody has passed through this way yet, and, if so, how long ago? From what I could tell, there was no other way for Tsuzuki to have gone. I walk up to it and grasp the handle with a tight grip, but still I can't find any traces of anyone. Dammit. I suppose the best thing to do is continue forward. If Tsuzuki went ahead of us, I'll either catch up to him eventually, or he'll backtrack and find me, and I would guess Tatsumi is ahead too.

I try to turn the handle, but the door is locked. What the hell? If it's locked, then that means nobody went through this door, but then where did Tsuzuki go? He has to be back in the hospital somewhere. Was I wrong when I thought I picked up on traces of him? No, I couldn't have been. I've been Tsuzuki's partner long enough to know his energy signature. I couldn't mistake it for anyone else's. He must have went back, though I don't know how we could have missed him.

Turning around, I head back the way I came. Passing by all the jail cells, I walk back into and through the hall I last saw Tatsumi in. Wait...what happened to the pile of debris from the floor above? I look up, and find there is still a hole in the ceiling, but the mess from earlier is gone. That doesn't make sense...it can't just disappear like that! I _am_ in the same place I was before I passed out...right? I look over at the wall where the mark that made me lose consciousness in the first place was, but that isn't there either. This can't be the same hall. Tatsumi must have carried me somewhere else. The hall is similar, but the details aren't the same. Dammit, that means I'm really lost. Still, the only way I can go is this way, since the other door was locked, and Tatsumi wouldn't have locked me out if he went that way. The staircase leads me back to the first floor of the hospital.

Okay, now I'm starting to feel like I'm going crazy. The previously white walls of the hospital now have a sort of rusty look to them, like they have been long stained with blood. I know for a fact they were not like that before, I would have noticed. It's possible this is just one section of the hospital that's different...but even the doors are weird. Instead of being normal doors, they all look more like prison doors, made of metal with a small window of bars near the top. The layout of it is the same as it was when I was here with Tatsumi, yet it all looks so different. So...evil.

"Tatsumi-san! Tsuzuki!" I call out, hoping to get a response, but, as usual, I get nothing. They have to be around somewhere. If only I could find some kind of trace of them...as much as I want to forget about my empathy and the lack of traces from anyone, I keep reaching out, hoping to catch something, which, since there is nothing, is actually only increasing my sense of loneliness.

I walk down one of the corridors, trying to find my way back to the office that we had found before. Maybe I can pick up on Tsuzuki and Tatsumi again, and follow it until I find one of them. Maybe one of them even went back there. It's unlikely, but at this point, just being able to sense somebody's presence would bring some comfort.

Well, there's the office. Unfortunately, the now steel door is definitely not the door that we walked through before. I try to twist the handle, but it's locked. Again? What is with all these locked doors? Is this even the same room? Other than the door, it looks the same. Standing on my tip-toes, I try to peek through the bars. It doesn't look like anybody is inside. It could have just been locked since the last time anyone occupied the building, but that still doesn't explain the doors. Or the walls. Is it all an illusion? No, it can't be. If it was just an illusion, the doors wouldn't feel and sound like metal. There is a severe problem with this town. I feel like I'm losing my mind here. At this point, I just want to find Tsuzuki and Tatsumi and get out of here. Unfortunately, my plan to find traces of them has failed, and I have no clue where to look anymore.

"Tsuzuki!! Tatsumi!!" And no matter how much I call for them, I don't get a response.

Wait...are those footsteps? I call out for Tsuzuki and Tatsumi again as I run down the hall, hoping to have actually found one of them, or perhaps one of the missing Shinigami. I round the corner and come to a complete stop.

Walking up the hall isn't a Shinigami at all, but that doctor from before. Or, at least, it looks the same, with one small but significant difference: instead of holding a knife, its holding a gun. I immediately reach into my pocket to pull out an ofuda. The deformed doctor raises the gun. Just as I send a blast of energy at it, the creature shoots. A sharp pain in my upper left arm tells me the bullet made contact, but I ignore it to attack the creature again just as it gets back to its feet from the last attack. The second blow sends it flying back until it slams into a wall. It falls to the ground, its head rolling from side to side and landing in a way that shows its neck snapped.

One more monster down, and one more ofuda down. That last blast was all the charm had left. I look on the ground where the thing's gun fell. I take a couple steps forward, lean down and pick it up. Not sure how many bullets it has left, but it might come in handy. I'm not going to question why there was a gun in a hospital at this point. My shoulder still stings, but the wound is already healing. It seems to have just grazed my shoulder, I'm guessing my attack threw its accuracy off.

Now, back to what I was doing before. I'll just have to keep looking around until I can find Tsuzuki and Tatsumi. I probably shouldn't yell for them anymore though if it's going to attract monsters. I need to save all the energy I can. If somebody gets hurt, I want to be able to heal them.

I'm pretty confident in my healing abilities now. I already knew that, even for a Shinigami, I had accelerated healing abilities, but I didn't know how well I could heal other people. I suppose that's because I never really tried. I realized I could heal others back when Tsuzuki and I first became partners, after he wanted to synchronize with me in order to defeat Muraki since he was rendered immobile. His naturally advanced healing combined with my abilities had allowed his wound to heal very quickly, to the point where he was the one carrying me out of the building after fighting Muraki, but I didn't realize the extent of my healing powers until I managed to save that Shikigami back in Gensokai. They told me afterwards he would have died had I not helped him. I don't remember it all, since I wasn't exactly in the best shape myself, but it proved I can heal others a lot better than I thought I could. It did take a lot of energy, however, so reserving as much as possible is important. With all of us being separated in a town filled with strange demons, it's not unlikely somebody will need help. Especially since Tsuzuki has a terrible habit of getting into trouble. Though, I suppose I'm not one to talk. How many times has Tsuzuki had to save me? Too many. Great, so we're both trouble magnets. What a pair. But that only makes it that much more important to find him and make sure he's alright.

I find a door that's actually unlocked and open it. At this point, I'm just looking anywhere for anything I can find. I have no other leads, no other clues on where to go, so I have to look for some.

If I didn't already know that I was in a hospital, I wouldn't think I just stepped into a patient's room. It looks more like a little girls' bedroom. A creepy bedroom. There are porcelain dolls everywhere. On the floor, on the bed, even one on a wheelchair in the corner of the room, which, for some reason, is rather disturbing. I'm not sure why anybody would want to collect these things. They look kind of creepy to me. A book is laying open on the bed, which, upon closer inspection, I realize is a diary. Normally, I wouldn't care less about somebody's diary, but there's a possibility it has a clue to what might have happened here. Unfortunately, there aren't any dates, but maybe something else written inside will be helpful. I pick up the dairy and start to read.

_Mommy came today with some more dolls for me. She acts like she cares, but I know she doesn't. My dolls are the only ones that really care. They wouldn't betray me. They are my only friends. The nurse tried to take my dolls away from me. She told me I couldn't have them. I screamed and kicked and bit her. Finally, she said I could keep them in my room. My dolls don't like her either. Nobody will take my precious dolls away from me._

Who wrote this? It sounds like it was written by a young girl. A disturbed young girl. I wouldn't think there would be patients with psychological problems in a hospital like this- I thought it was a hospital for physical conditions- but whoever wrote this had to have had some mental or emotional problems. Judging by all the dolls in the room, the patient had been here for quite some time as well. Maybe I'll find out something if I continue on. I flip the page over to the next entry.

_I threw Melissa at the wall today and broke her. It was because she was laughing at me. Laughing at me as the nurse told me how I needed human friends, not just dolls. How I should be more loving to my mom. I told her to stop, but she didn't, so I broke her. The nurse cleaned up the pieces. She told the other nurses that I should get my dolls taken away from me before I hurt somebody with the sharp pieces. What they don't realize is I wouldn't break my precious dolls to hurt them. They aren't even worth it. I only break the dolls that betray me. Goodbye, Melissa._

_I stole something from the nurse today. It was one of her keys. It was funny listening to her wonder where it went. She had no clue I took it. I hid it in Christina's pocket. The nurse doesn't touch my dolls anymore, so she'll never find it._

I look around the room at the mass of dolls. Was there really a key in one of the pockets? What would it lead to? While that won't help me find Tatsumi or Tsuzuki, it could help the case. I don't want to waste time but...it shouldn't take long to find a key.

Putting the diary down, I begin to search the dolls. I don't know how somebody could like these things so much. They're so...creepy. Not to mention they remind me of _him_. He always called me that...his doll. I can still hear his voice, what he said to me as he dragged me to the ground and stripped me of my robe. Beautiful, yet so small and fragile, just like a porcelain doll, he said.

There is a crash as the doll slips from my hands, its face shattering as it hits the floor. Dammit. I take a deep breath and sit on the floor for a moment, away from the broken doll. I feel like I'm falling apart. Slowly, but surely. Muraki has always haunted me since he assaulted me, but I thought I'd gotten used to dealing with it. Ever since Kyoto, he'd been slowly fading to the background. I know he's not gone, but his impact over me has been lessening. But now...now it's like I have to deal with it all over again. I can't deal with this by myself anymore. I have to find the others. No more detours. I'm not stopping until I find somebody. We can work on the case when we're back together. It makes me feel like a little kid, but I can't take it anymore. I don't want to be alone, and I need to know Tatsumi and Tsuzuki are okay.

I exit the room without bothering to look for the key the dairy's author mentioned. They wouldn't be behind a locked door anyway. If a lot of the doors are locked, at least that narrows down my search. We have to run into each other eventually.

Up ahead, near the end of the hall, it looks like somebody is sitting on the ground, their back to the wall. Is it a person, or another monster? Holding my light source out ahead of me, I walk carefully and quietly toward the figure. The closer I get, the more it looks like an actual human. Is that...it is! One of the missing Shinigami!


	5. Dark Reflection

**---Tsuzuki Asato---**

What happened?

I remember being in the hospital...finding jails cells...a scream...

Hisoka!

That's right, I heard Hisoka scream, then came running back, trying to find him. The problem was, the stairs I went up didn't lead me to the same place as b efore, even though I remember there only being one staircase that led down to the cells. I remember slowing down, suddenly feeling exhausted. I must have passed out then. But what about Hisoka? Tatsumi is supposed to be with him, so he should be safe...but what if they got separated? What if they weren't together and Hisoka got attacked? What if he's hurt? Dammit, I have to find him!

I wish I knew how much time has passed since I lost consciousness, but there is no way of telling. I didn't exactly think to check my watch before I fell over. It couldn't have been too long, I'm guessing, since I didn't get devoured by those monsters. Still, if Hisoka needed help, any time lost could be bad news.

Cupping my hands around my mouth, I yell out for Hisoka. My voice echoes down the hall, but his does not answer. How am I supposed to know where to start looking for him? It's possible he came down this hallway and I somehow missed it, but he could have been back in one of the other halls I've been through too. After all, I did intentionally leave a trail for him to follow. And what happened to my Familiar? It never returned...did it find Tatsumi and Hisoka? Why didn't they find me? Did a monster get to it? I suppose I'll try it again.

After pulling an ofuda out of my pocket, I activate it, letting it fold itself into an origami bird, then forming into the small, white bird.

"Find Hisoka, then come back to me so I know where he is, and be careful!"

The bird flies away after I instruct it, back down the staircase I originally came up from. It should be able to find Hisoka faster than I can, but, in the meantime, I'll look around to see if I can find out what happened. If Hisoka and Tatsumi did get separated, then I need to find Tatsumi too. I glance down the hall I'm in, wondering if either of them came this way. Nobody answered me, so I don't think they are in this hall, though it's possible somebody could have passed out just like I did. I only instructed my Familiar to find Hisoka, not Tatsumi, so, even though it went back, Tatsumi could still be in this area.

I turn around and stare down the corridor. I really wish we'd never been separated. Ugh, I'm such an idiot! Hisoka tried to warn me against running ahead, but, of course, I didn't listen. It's my fault we're separated. What if they split up to find me? I could never forgive myself if something happened to Hisoka. He was in pain, something I might have been able to prevent had I been there. Why do I have to go and screw everything up? Sometimes I think Hisoka should have been partnered with Tatsumi instead of me. It'd save him so much trouble.

Looking around the corridor leaves me with a creepy feeling. Something about this isn't right. The walls...weren't they white before? Why do they look as if they are stained with...blood spatter...?

I suddenly find myself less than a foot away from the wall, staring at it, reaching out to touch it. I slowly withdraw my hand and look down at my fingers. Blood! It is blood! It's all over my fingers...all over my hands. It's not just from the wall...my hands have been stained with blood since before I became a Shinigami. So many people, so many lives, lost because of me. Their blood is on my hands. Ruka. Ruka's blood is on my hands. I never meant for anyone to die. I never wanted to hurt anyone! But I did...I hurt countless people, I caused their deaths, and their blood will never wash off of my hands. The sin will never leave me.

I stumble back from the wall and scream. Scream in frustration, scream at myself, scream for all the people who have lost their lives because of me. I haven't been sent here to solve a case. I've been sent here to remember all my sins. To be punished for all I've done wrong, for all the lives I've taken.

But what about Tatsumi? What about Hisoka? Surely they don't deserve this. They can't be suffering because of me. They can't. I won't allow it. I can't let them be hurt because of me. I can't let the one person who has stuck by me, even through my worst times, be hurt because of me. There's still a death I can prevent, pain I save somebody from. If the town wants to punish me, then I'll accept it, but Hisoka has done nothing wrong. I will find him, and I will protect him.

I look down at my hands again, which are covered in a sort of reddish dirt or dust. Was the blood all just in my mind? I quickly brush my hands off on my pants, trying to get rid of it; I don't want to think about it anymore.

Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I make my way down the hall. Nobody seems to be over here. "Tatsumi!" I call out, hoping he might be nearby and hear me, but I get no response. To the left, one of the doors is slightly ajar. Strange, that's the first time I've seen any of the doors open at all. Maybe somebody is in there!

Opening the door further and stepping into the room, I find myself facing a wall completely covered by a mirror. Nobody else is in here, either. I frown and look around the room, hoping to find something out of place, something that would show me somebody was in here, but I can't find anything. I sigh and look at my reflection in the mirror. I can't help but hate those purple eyes staring back at me. These eyes of mine...they have caused me so much pain. They are a constant reminder that I may just not be completely human. I may very well be a monster, a demon, not much better from the monsters here, which seem to attack any human around, all with the intent to kill, to devour.

Something in the background catches my attention. In the mirror, behind me, something seems to be coming out of the wall. A red liquid seeps out and drips down, forming a skinny stream. Then, more seeps out of different places in the wall, flowing down until the wall is mostly covered in blood. What is going on?! I quickly turn to face behind me, but the wall is perfectly normal. Am I seeing things? I turn back to the mirror, but the blood is still there, hitting the floor and continuing on, moving forward toward my mirror image.

Then, something else happens. The scared expression of me in the mirror turns into something sinister. His eyes narrow, and the ends of his lips turn up into a dangerous smirk. Specks of blood appear on his face, in his clothes. The ofuda in his hand turns into a bloody knife. He...no...I...it's me in that mirror, a reflection of the demon within me, the image of what I really am, a monster. The blood is still streaming forward, now passing the feet of my mirror image. It continues on, reaching the mirror. Only it doesn't stop. It crosses through the reflective glass barrier, something that shouldn't be possible in any way, and continues coming towards me.

I look up in horror, back at my mirror self, who seems to be taking great pleasure in my fear and distress. I reach out to the mirror, and my reflection reaches out as well. This demon...this monster...the true me beneath it all...I don't want to be like that...I don't! I don't want to hurt anyone, I don't want to take lives! I want it to go away! Go away! Leave me alone!

Before our fingers touch, I clench my hand into a fist, rear my arm back, yell and punch the mirror where the face of my reflection is. The mirror shatters completely, pieces of glass embedding themselves into my hand and arm. And I stay standing like that, my fist still connected with the wall, trembling and breathing heavily.

Why? Why can't I just be a normal human? Why do I have to hurt everyone, why do I have to hurt the people I care about the most? No matter what I do, no matter how hard I try, I just end up hurting everyone. I hurt Tatsumi when I was his partner, I continue to hurt him after he ended it. I hurt Hisoka with my emotions and self-hatred, but I hurt him when I try to hide it too. How many people have lost their lives because of me? How many people would be so much better off if I never existed?

I look at my arm and hand, which are now covered in small streams of my own blood, shards of glass poking out of my skin. It looks so much like all those times I cut myself. My watch is covering the scars, but I can still see them through the band. It may hide them from others, but it never hides them from myself.

There are enough large, sharp pieces of the mirror around me to reopen those scars. My healing abilities are a little slowed, probably another one of those weird side-effects of this place, so it won't be as hard to injure myself. The cuts wouldn't heal as soon as I pulled the glass out of my skin. The flow of blood wouldn't cease so quickly. The pain would last longer. It wouldn't be nearly enough compared to how much I deserve, how much I've inflicted upon others, but it's better than what I would get normally.

This is town is the perfect place for suicide.

I bend down, my eyes on a particularly large shard of the mirror. I pick it up and grasp it so tightly that the edges cut into the flesh of my hand, sending more streams of blood down my fingers, drips staining the floor red. The human body holds a lot of blood. Not that I'm human, but I have the body of one, allowing me to masquerade as one, to try to convince myself that I am one, even though I know I'm not. It used to seem like the blood would never stop flowing. There was always too much, too much to drain out before it could kill me. And then it would just replace itself, faster than what was normal for a human, making it that much harder to spill it all out. There is so much blood in a body. Soon, the whole room shall be awash in red. I bring a tip of the glass down to the skin on the underside of my wrist.

And stop.

Why can't I bring myself to exert pressure? I've done this so many times, why should I hesitate now? This is the perfect opportunity, the perfect place to give myself the slow, painful death I deserve.

Why?

Because Hisoka's unanswered scream is still echoing in the back of my mind.

How utterly selfish of me. To think just of myself when Hisoka might need help? I'm such a disgusting, selfish bastard. Even if he is okay now, I have to make sure. I have to make sure he gets out of here alive. Only after he's safe can I worry about myself. Only after he and Tatsumi are out of this place can I end my existence.

I drop the piece of glass and look at my arm. I should probably pick all those small shards out. If I don't, Hisoka will probably give me a lecture and pull them out himself. I don't need him knowing I almost killed myself again. I'll have to find a way to make it look like an accident. After I know he and Tatsumi are safe, make it seem like some monsters got to me. He was so hurt when I tried to kill myself before. I even made him cry. At least if he thinks it was an accident, it will hurt him less. He'll be fine after a little while. Tatsumi can help him. He'll get a new partner, a better partner, and realize how bad of a partner I was. The thought of him hating me hurts, hurts far more than the glass embedded in my arm, but less than if he were to stay with me and only be caused more pain. Even if it means hating me, his happiness is more important.

I wonder if he ever realized how important he is to me. I don't do a very good job of showing it. Usually people don't hurt the ones they care about. Must be the demon in me.

Pinching a shard of mirror between my thumb and index finger, I yank it out of my arm. I wince from the pain, though I'm not sure why. I'd think I'd be used to pain by now. Whatever. I drop that piece to the floor and work on pulling out the rest of the now-red shards.

Once all the glass is out, I turn around and exit the room, not daring to give a second look back, lest I change my mind about waiting.

My Familiar hasn't returned yet. I hope something didn't happen to it. I need it to locate Hisoka.

I'm almost at the end of the hall now, and there is nobody in sight. Guess Tatsumi didn't come this way either.

Wait...what's that sound? It sounds like...dogs? It's coming from one of the rooms at the very end of the corridor. I slowly begin walking toward the sound, making as little noise as possible. There is a turn to my left. I peek around the corner. The sight I'm met with makes me want to vomit.

Laying in an open elevator is a body, half of it's flesh missing, with several dog-like creatures devouring what remains. The face of the body, though scratched and practically missing one cheek, is barely discernible.

It's the body of one of the missing Shinigami.

Covering my mouth and hoping not to loose my breakfast, I turn and run back down the hall. It doesn't sound like anything is chasing me. All of those monsters must be too busy with their meal.

We were too late. At least one of the two Shinigami that went missing are dead. The other could very well be dead too. How did this happen? How could a Shinigami be taken down like that? I knew I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up, Hisoka tried to warn me against it, but I didn't want to think they were dead. I wanted to think there was still a chance to save them. I knew there was a possibility we were too late to do anything, but actually seeing it...finding a dead body, I just can't stand it. What did that Shinigami do to deserve such a fate?

I lean against a wall and lose whatever food I still had in my stomach.

Dammit. I hate this. All the worst things that could happen are happening at once. A crazy case in America to a creepy, abandoned town, being separated from Tatsumi and Hisoka, knowing nothing of Tatsumi, knowing Hisoka was and still could be in danger and not having any clue where he is to help, finding one of the Shinigami dead and soon to be devoured by monsters, and all of the parts of my past that I try to avoid as best I can surfacing. I feel completely overwhelmed. I'm being bent and twisted around until I finally break, and I'm almost there. Another couple of twists, a little more pressure, and I'm afraid I'll completely snap. I'm trying so hard to hold on, to keep my sanity, but it's slipping away from me more and more no matter how tightly I grasp it. In fact, the only thing still keeping me going at this point is Hisoka. My desire to see him safe is the only motivation I have to keep pressing on like this. If I find him only to discover the worst...I will snap. I will shatter into a million pieces. There will be no piecing me back together. If I have any damn luck at all, if there is only one thing that can go right, then please let it be Hisoka's safety. Please, _please_ let him be okay.

Slowly, I move back from the wall. I'm near the other end of the corridor now, the end I started at. I'm done searching here anyway. Tatsumi isn't here, so I have no more reason to keep looking.

I go down the stairs, back to the jail cells. Why is it so hard to see? Oh. My ofuda is almost all used up. I grab another one out of my pocket and activate it. Ah, much better. Looking down the rows of cells, I notice something I didn't see there before. About three-quarters of the way down, it looks like one of the doors of the cells got blasted away. I'm pretty sure that wasn't like that before...

Deciding to investigate, I head down the hall. Sure enough, the door to one of the cells is laying in the middle of the floor. I glance inside of the cell the door was blown off of to see papers scattered about on a small, battered wooden table. Some are also on the floor. I notice some drawings amongst the papers. Taking a closer look, they are actually rather disturbing. One features the image of a man standing amongst a see of blood and dead bodies. His face isn't visible, as he is seen from the back, but in one hand he holds a gun, in the other a bloodied knife. Another picture features three people being hung, a black-cloaked person standing behind them, holding a rope. Another piece of paper has words messily scrawled across it.

_They locked me up like I'm some criminal. Hah! I'm no criminal. I simply did to them what they did to me. The oppressors finally became the oppressed. The guilty were finally punished. I told them they shouldn't have messed with me. I asked them to stop, then I demanded that they stop. None of them listened. They just laughed at me. They never saw it coming. I deceived them all. Who's laughing now? This imprisonment is only temporary. Soon, those that threw me in here will too be punished. _

I frown at the paper. It sounds like whoever wrote this was tormented by another group of people until he finally snapped. But that still doesn't make it right to take another's life. What do you say to somebody like that? How do you punish them?

There's another sheet of paper over part of that one, covering blank space, so I take a look at that one too.

_Every day, I tell them that it's coming. They are going to suffer. They are going to die. They just laugh at me too. But I can feel it. I can feel the darkness seeping out of the very ground of the town. Every day, it's been getting stronger. Stronger, bigger, darker, more powerful. None of them stand a chance. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they realize I was telling the truth all along. That look of terror. I can hardly wait for it to happen. It's thrilling. Soon, soon, they too will get what they deserve._

_It's coming._

It's coming? What does that mean? Was that what caused this town to be abandoned? Nothing makes sense about this place. Whatever, I'll try to figure it out later. I have more important things to worry about right now.

I leave the cell and continue down the hall. I wonder if anybody came this way. The only thing is, the cell shouldn't be blasted out from the inside if that was the case. I know there wasn't anyone in there before though...maybe the door really was blasted off earlier and I didn't notice. Whoever was locked up in it before could have done it. But I guess it won't hurt to check up ahead anyway. If Tatsumi and Hisoka were behind me before, after I went up the wrong staircase, somebody could have come this way. Hopefully both of them came this way and are unharmed.

I turn the handle and open the door, leading me to a rather large room. Shining my ofuda around, I notice that the walls are heavily stained with blood. A chair of some sort sits in one of the corners. Is that...an electric chair? Why would there be an electric chair in a hospital?! I AM still in a hospital...aren't I? Is the hospital connected to an underground jail or something? Or was it for the patients they could no longer deal with? That's a disturbing thought.

Looking around further, I can see more devices in the room. There is something standing up against a wall that looks like a casket with large spikes inside, caked with dried blood. Is that a guillotine?! What the hell?! I'm in a torture chamber!

I quickly turn around to leave back through the door. I grab the handle, but it won't turn. What is going on?! No matter how much I try to turn and pull, the door won't budge. I'm locked in here?! There has to be a way out. I'll blast the door down if I have to. Doors don't lock on their own, there has to be a way to open it!

A sudden loud noise behind me grabs my attention. I spin around to see the source.

Standing in front of me is a large, very disturbing demon.


	6. Tattered Wishes

_Author's Note: I want to thank my last two reviewers, Sara and wolfawaken. I was thinking about either putting this fic on hiatus or discontinuing it due to lack of interest from readers and focus on something else, but your reviews gave me the inspiration to write more, so thank you! ^^ That being said, I greatly appreciate feedback from readers. If you think there is something that needs more work, leave some constructive criticism and let me know! My readers are who can help me grow as a writer. Anyway, I had some difficulty writing this chapter, but I hope it's good nevertheless and you enjoy it!  
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**-Tatsumi Seiichiro-**

I slowly open my eyes, forgetting for a very brief moment where I am. Then it all hits me. I sit up quickly and look around, only to realize my glasses are no longer where they should be. Laying beside me is an ofuda, its light now so dim I can only see my immediate surroundings. Luckily, my glasses are among them, and, thankfully, unharmed. After placing them back on my face, I reach in my pocket to take out the paper charm Kurosaki had given me before. I never was very good at ofuda magic, but Kurosaki had infused it with his own energy, leaving me to simply activate it with a tiny amount of mine. A light quickly grows from it as I activate it. I look up, trying to see the area I had fallen from, but, even with the help of the light, I can't see far enough up. How far did I fall?

"Kurosaki-kun!" I yell, hoping to get his attention. My call is met with silence. How long have I been unconscious? I know I killed those monsters before falling, but what if more had come? What if Kurosaki had been attacked? I have to get back up there. I can't let anything happen to him. After all, Kurosaki is not only my co-worker, but my friend. Not to mention I have to protect him for Tsuzuki's sake. I won't let Kurosaki be harmed, and I won't let Tsuzuki fall apart.

Glancing at my surroundings, I find I am another corridor. There is a heavy, iron door ahead of me, making me curious as to what is on the other side. I'm surprised to find it is not locked. Almost as soon as I open the door, a horrible stench assaults my sense of smell, making me cover my nose and actually stop breathing. What's worse is the fact that the stench is exactly what it smells like: decomposing bodies.

I am in a morgue.

I step back and slam the door shut. It's not until I'm almost at the other side of the corridor that I dare to breathe again. Though not fresh air by any means, at least the stench won't kill me. I have to resist the urge to vomit. I am not going that way. There has to be a way back upstairs. Just as I take a step, the sudden sound of radio static stops me from taking another. I look back at the area I fell. The radio is lying on the ground, in pieces from the fall. Still, the static is unmistakable. A voice accompanies it.

"Why...ki...ro..."

I take a couple of slow steps towards it, trying to make out the words. It gradually becomes clearer as if somebody was tuning it.

"Why did...me...chiro... Why did you kill me, Seiichiro?"

I freeze. That...that's my mother's voice! No...no, that couldn't be. It can't be. A broken radio shouldn't make any sound, much less sound like my mother. That wouldn't make sense!"

"Why, Seiichiro?" The voice continues to sob. "I thought you loved me!"

I did! I did love you! Please don't cry...I don't want to see your tears. It kills me to see you cry! I had to...I had to end your sorrow. It's what you wanted, wasn't it? I can remember the first time I saw you cry. You were so good at hiding it from us. Or, maybe I just wasn't good at seeing it. But when I walked into your bedroom that night...you had forgotten to lock the door. You were crying so much you didn't realize I had walked in until I addressed you. You looked up at me then, shock in your eyes, and such a deep sorrow. Then, when you realized I caught you crying, you cried harder. You yelled at me to get out of your room. Being just a child at the time, I had been so frightened. I wanted to comfort you, but you wanted me to leave, so I did. It took a while for me to fall asleep that night. I was too busy wondering what could make my mother cry so, and why me being there made her cry more. Was it me? Was I making you cry? I told myself that I had to take care of you. It would be my job to cheer you up.

The next morning, you pretended like nothing had happened. You smiled at me, hugged me and kissed my head. For a little while, I thought everything was okay again, but your tears didn't stop. I realized later that you had fallen into depression. Money was tight, and, having come from a well-off family, you weren't used to struggling financially. You couldn't ask your family for help. They didn't approve of you marrying a poor man. Never did they offer assistance. So, our family was always struggling financially. You tried to keep this from my sister and myself. You didn't want us to know the burden you and Father were going through, but it became evident.

When Father died, you were left to raise two children on your own. A single mother, a single paycheck, but it wasn't enough. Sister helped out with the housework, and I sought out a job to help pay the bills, but it wasn't enough. You still cried every night, your depression grew worse. You couldn't deal with it anymore.

"I want it to end, Seiichiro." That is what you said to me. You were tired. Tired of working so hard only to get no farther. Tired of being sad. I wanted so badly to save you from your sorrow. I tried to comfort you, tried to make you happy, to make the tears stop, but my presence would only worsen your sorrow. Even when I worked hard to bring in money for our family, you would cry. Why did I always make you cry? Why couldn't I ever bring a smile to your face? A true smile, not the kind you forced when I handed you my paycheck. No matter what I did, I only ever made you cry. Then, I wondered, why did you keep doing this if it hurt you so? Was there nothing I could do to help you?

"I want it to end, Seiichiro." That was what you wanted. You wanted it all to end. The sorrow, the pain, the misery, the poverty. In a world fraught with sadness and despair, it seemed there was no way for it to bring you joy. Why cling to something that brings only pain? Maybe I should have stopped you. Maybe I should have tried harder to make you happy, even if that meant distancing myself from you. If that is what it took to make you happy, maybe I should have tried it. I still wonder if I should have taken a different path, but I can't change the past. You wanted to die, that night, and I helped you achieve that. After all, what right did I, as somebody who only made you sad, have to force you to stay in that world of despair? I wanted to comply with your wishes, it wasn't my place to interfere. That's what I thought anyway. The same way I thought when Tsuzuki wanted to kill himself just seven months ago.

Ah, Tsuzuki!

I don't have time to sit here thinking about this. Tsuzuki and Kurosaki could be in danger!

Leaving the shattered radio behind, which had finally died out at some point, I find a staircase on the opposite end of the hall from the morgue. Good, I need to get back up there. The stairs lead me to a floor labeled B1. I believe that is the floor Kurosaki and I had been on. When I get to the other side of the door, however, I begin to doubt that. While it looks similar to the corridor we had been in previously, it looks different. I'm not sure what it is, but something about it isn't right.

"Kurosaki!" I yell out, hoping to get a response, but there is none. Looking around the hall, I don't see him anywhere. If this is the same hall, then that would mean he woke up and went somewhere else. I certainly hope that is the case. I don't see the hole I fell into though, is this the wrong place? The door on the other end of the corridor is locked, so wherever it leads to couldn't be the area that we were in. I must have the wrong floor. Back to the staircase. I would go to the first floor, but, oddly enough...there is no door for the first floor. The staircase brings me from the basement to the second floor. That makes no sense at all, but trying to figure out why it is that way will only waste time. Surely there are other staircases that will take me down to the first floor.

Now, I'm really confused.

I'm back in the hospital, but it doesn't even look like the same hospital as before. While it did look old and abandoned before, now it looks decrepit. What is going on? Nothing in this place makes sense! Now I am lost with no way to find Tsuzuki or Kurosaki, and I don't know if either of them are okay. I have no way of tracking anyone like they do. I can only hope they have been able to find each other and are safe. In the meantime, I will just have to keep looking for them. Seeing as there was nowhere for me to go on the last two floors, I might as well start here.

I call out for Kurosaki and Tsuzuki, but, of course, there is no response, so I start looking at every area on the floor. It is possible that one of them passed out in another room. I need to find those other Shinigami as well, the reason why we are here to begin with. The first few rooms I look into are all the same. There is nothing out of place, though all of them feature beds that are falling apart, windows that are cracked, walls with holes in them...things that weren't present when I was looking through the hospital with Tsuzuki and Kurosaki earlier. While it's possible I could be in a different area of the hospital than the one we looked through, it wouldn't make any sense for part of it to be so neglected while the rest is fine. The more I think about it, the less sense it makes. It's driving me crazy. I don't like this place at all, and I'm beginning to fear the worst has happened to Tsuzuki and Kurosaki.

The next room I go into doesn't help.

There are obvious signs of struggle. Blood is splattered on the floor and walls. The bed is in pieces, as if it had been caught up in some powerful blast of energy. Laying on the ground in a dried-up puddle of blood is the body of a nurse. I walk closer and crouch down to get a better look. No, that isn't a human. While it looks very human in appearance, it has no face. It looks more like its face had melted off, and its skin is deathly pale. Its clothes are stained with blood, and a steel pipe lays beneath its hand. It looks like something from a horror movie. Looking around the room, it is hard to tell how much of the blood belonged to the nurse and how much belonged to whoever it was attacking. Whoever it was seems to have escaped. I leave the room and check for a trail of blood that might signify a wound, but there isn't one. Good, then it should be safe to assume whoever got attacked came out unharmed. Considering the blood is old, it probably wasn't Kurosaki or Tsuzuki. Was it one of the Shinigami before us? At least I know somebody has been through here. I'll have to keep searching.

This place is so unsettling, it's no wonder the other two Shinigami went missing. As if it isn't bad enough with somebody else around, being separated is too worrisome. I've never had a case like this before, nor have I ever heard of one. I'm not even sure how we will be able to solve it. At this point, it doesn't seem like we will be able to. There are still the files to look through to give us hints about the town, but I'm not going to look at those until I find everyone else. One would think I would have come across somebody by now. At the very least, somebody should have been able to hear me, or me hear somebody else. It's dead silent, so anybody's voice should be able to be heard easily. As much as I hate it, I can't help but think something bad happened.

I hasten my step, determined to find Tsuzuki and Kurosaki. Not too far up ahead, something is laying in the middle of the hall. Curious, I lean down and pick it up. It appears to be a book. The illustrations look like they were done by a child, as does the writing. It's written in English, but simple enough for me to be able to understand.

_Once upon a time, there was a young girl. Nobody liked her. People at school picked on her. They called her a witch, threw stuff at her and teased her. The girl's sadness turned into anger. One day, when a group of people tried to beat her up, she got her revenge. A spark appeared in front of her, and soon the room was on fire. The people screamed and begged for the girl to stop, but just like when she begged them to stop and they didn't, she didn't help. She laughed as they burned. Soon, the entire school was on fire. The flames spread to the entire town, until everybody burned in the fire of her hate._

_The end._

The picture on the third page shows a dark-haired girl in a burning room. The fire consumes everything other than the small circle around the girl, a sinister grin on her face as those around her scream in agony. What kind of child would write something like this? I drop the small book, deciding not to bother with it anymore. This town and its inhabitants must have really been cursed. From its dark history to all the crazy things that are happening now, I can't come up with any other kind of explanation. I'm sure whatever Tsuzuki and Kurosaki have come across isn't any better.

The sound of footsteps suddenly echoes from down the hall, snapping me out of my thoughts. Is that a person? No...it sounds like bare feet hitting the floor and the steps are too uneven. Another monster? I hold my ofuda out to see what it is.

A humanoid creature steps around the corner. It's very thin, as if malnourished, its bones visible beneath the tight, pale skin. It trudges forward with its head down, arms dangling at its sides. It looks up at me. An expression of permanent sorrow is etched into its face. Thin red streaks fall from its hollow eye sockets, as if crying tears of blood. It lets out a low, depressing moan. The creature is gruesome, more so than the others I've seen so far, and, once again, I'm reminded of my mother and Tsuzuki. Why does this place keep bringing back such painful memories? Why must this town taunt me?

I don't want to see it. I don't want to see this monster anymore. Summoning up the shadows around me, I send them to impale the creature. It howls in agony and falls to the ground, writing in pain. It looks absolutely pathetic. For a brief moment, I almost feel sorry for it. No, this is a monster, a demon. All it has is its instinct to kill. Another attack severs its head from its body, leaving it to twitch before finally dying. I take a moment to recompose myself. This place is taking a toll on me. While I don't do much field work, I'm not usually so shaken. But this case...even though its so unrelated to me, a strange case in a foreign country, its still impacting me directly. It is as if this place is doing it on purpose. The radio especially, things like that just don't happen! This place is cursed, and it's trying to make me another one of its victims. It is eating at me slowly, attacking me at my weakest points. I have to find the others and get out of here as soon as possible. I don't know how much more of this I can take.

I hope the others aren't being affected like I am. Tsuzuki is so easily broken, and he can't recover without the help of somebody else. He needs protection, and he was separated from us before I lost Kurosaki. I know he can hold his own in battle, but he won't win against the mind games in this place. Once again, I must hope Kurosaki has already found him. Once we find each other, we are leaving. We can worry about the case later, but we need to regroup and discuss this. None of us were prepared for something like this.

I continue my way through the hospital, calling for Tsuzuki and Kurosaki again. I'm still met with no answer, but I'm not going to stop trying until I find them.

Wait, what is that sound? Something scraping? It's coming from this room...

I open the door to see what it is, hoping it's not another monster. Instead, kneeling on the floor, facing the wall to my left, is a nurse. It doesn't look like a monster, not the same kind I saw before. There is a scalpel in her hand, and she is carving the same words into the wall. 'Repent. Repent. Repent.' Over and over again. The wall is already almost halfway covered with the words. Her hand seems to be bleeding. How long as she been sitting there carving into the wall?

"Excuse me, Ma'am?"

The woman stops abruptly and stiffens. She slowly turns her head to face me. There's a crazed look in her bloodshot eyes. She is unhealthily skinny and pale; clearly she hasn't eaten in quiet some time. She stands up and fully turns to face me.

"Repent." She speaks in a raspy voice barely above a whisper, "Repent for your sins. It's the only way out."

What is she talking about? Only way out of this town? "I'm sorry, Ma'am, but I don't know what you mean. How long have you been here?"

She takes a step towards me. "Repent! You must repent! Repent or you will suffer!" Her voice is getting louder now, higher in pitch. This woman isn't sane. "We must atone for our sins! The nightmare won't stop until we do!" The woman looks at the scalpel in her hand, then back to me. "Ah, Salvation awaits me. You understand, right? The god of this place demands a sacrifice of one who has sinned even greater than myself. Rid the world of a sinner, and yours shall be forgiven."

A sacrifice? The woman steps towards me more, a maniacal grin on her face. She wants to kill me as a sacrifice to this supposed god? She thinks that killing me will save her? "Wait, listen to me! I can get you out of here!"

"Repent. Repent with your life!" The nurse runs at me, aiming to dig the scalpel into my neck. I sidestep her. She whirls around to strike again. Before she can swing, I grab her wrist, stopping her hand in midair.

"Listen to me! I can get you out of this place! There's no need for any sacrifice!"

The woman looks horrified. She steps back, looks at me for a moment, then laughs. What is she laughing for? "So then, I am the greater sinner? Is there only one way for me? Then I will bring myself salvation! Death is the only salvation here!" Before I can react, she digs the knife deep into her own neck. There's a gurgle of blood and she falls to the floor. She's dead before I kneel down to check her.

What was that all about? This place must have driven her completely insane. How long as she been trapped here? How much has she suffered? Well, there isn't anything I can do about it now. Perhaps there was no way to save her from the beginning. She could have fallen so far that there was no pulling her back up.

Right?

That's how it seemed to be with Mother. There wasn't anything I could do to make her happy. I could only respect her wish for it to end and save her from the wretched world she lived in. There was no way to save her, was there?

But, Tsuzuki was saved. He had fallen so far, he had lost his sanity and he had clear intent to kill himself. No, not just kill himself, erase his very own existence. He may have gone insane, but he knew what he was doing in the moments he summoned Touda. He was perfectly aware of what it would do, and that was what he wanted. That's what it seemed, anyway, and I wasn't about to go against his wishes. But, even through all that, Kurosaki managed to pull Tsuzuki back. Tsuzuki couldn't have fallen any farther, he seemed to me beyond saving, but still his partner managed. Then, I rescued them both. Later on, Tsuzuki thanked me for saving him. As much as I thought he had wanted to die, a part of him still wished to be saved. Perhaps Mother could have been saved too.

That woman, she thought she was the greater sinner because she could not kill me, but she must be wrong. What greater sin is there than to kill your own mother? I thought I was helping her, I thought I was saving her, but perhaps I wasn't. Ever since that day, I have been plagued with my decision. Was it the right one? Was there something else I should have done? What? What else could I have done?

I poisoned my mother's drink. I made sure she wouldn't suffer, she wouldn't know what was going on. It led her into a painless, peaceful sleep. She had tried overdosing on medication before that, but she had been saved from that attempt. I wanted to help her be successful the next time, so I did it. I was the one that killed her.

But I can't go back and change the past, whether or not the decision was right or wrong, whether or not I could have saved her or not. I can regret all I want, but that isn't changing anything. Now is not the time for that. There are still people I can try to save. Kurosaki and Tsuzuki still want to live, and I can help them do that. I may have not saved my mother, this woman, or, in the past, Tsuzuki, but the least I can do is save Tsuzuki and Kurosaki now. It may not make up for my sins, but I want to honor their wishes to live, and I want to carry out my own wish to save them. I won't let them be another one of my regrets.


	7. Apprehension

_Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is so short. Thanks again to my reviewer, Sara. I wouldn't feel very inspired to continue writing this without the encouraging reviews. Hope you all enjoy the chapter._

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**-Kurosaki Hisoka-**

"Go away! Leave me alone!"

The woman's voice screeches as she curls herself up into a ball. Ah, her emotions! I'm forced to stop, momentarily paralyzed by onslaught of emotions emanating from her. She's terrified, so scared that it hurts me even with a few feet of distance between us. Sorrow laces her fear, adding to the strength of it. I instinctively take a couple of steps back, unable to cope with the sudden surge. I'm not used to facing such strong, unprotected emotions. Those I work with know powerful emotions can hinder me and they help protect me from it. Tsuzuki's can come through rather strongly, but he's pretty good about keeping a barrier around his emotions when I'm nearby. His emotions do still leak through, and it's easy for me to read him, but he doesn't broadcast them so the levels are tolerable. The sheer fear and sorrow of this woman, however, is too much for me to handle. I can't get close to her like this.

"It's okay, I'm a Guardian of Death." I tell her in English. At least all my studying English has paid off. The intensity of studying another language gives one something to do when locked up most of one's life.

"What? No...you're lying. There were no others!"

"I was sent from Japan to find you."

"Japan?" The woman, looks at me curiously for several seconds, trying to figure out if I'm telling the truth or I'm some demon out to deceive her. "You speak English? What are you doing here?"

"I can speak some English. I was sent here with my partner and another Guardian of Death to find you and your partner. Your name is... Cassandra Williams, right? I'm Kuro- ah...Hisoka Kurosaki."

The woman nods. "Yes, that is my name. My partner...Jacob is..."

I frown. She doesn't have to finish her sentence for me to know what she means. Her thoughts are coming through loud and clear; her partner is dead. The fear has been replaced by deep sorrow, a loss of somebody important. "I understand. I'm sorry. I'm an empath...I can read your emotions."

"Oh..." Williams bites her lip, seemingly holding back tears. She shakes her head, trying to keep a grip on herself. Under other circumstances, she seems like she'd be a strong woman. I can't blame her for falling apart in this place though, especially if it claimed her partner, who she seems to have been deeply connected to. I'm not trying to search her emotions, they are just there. I can't avoid feeling them. "Where is your partner and the other Guardian you came with?"

"We uh...got separated."

The woman's eyes widen. "You have to find them! This place...you must already know...you must be able to feel it. Jacob and I were separated, and when I found him...he...it was already too late. You have to find them!"

As if I needed anybody to tell me that. What a way to add to the worry. The fact I found somebody else alive is relieving, but now I'm only more worried about Tsuzuki, if that's possible. There's definitely something wrong with this place and it's not just me. If Williams and her partner were affected, then so are Tsuzuki and Tatsumi. Tatsumi, I think, can hold out more against it and should be okay until I find him again, but Tsuzuki is still healing from Kyoto. This place could tear those wounds wide open again.

"I'll help you." Williams says with a small but kind smile. As scared as she is, she is willing to stay here longer to help me? I suppose there is comfort in being with another Shinigami, despite us not even knowing each other, but I would have expected her to want to leave as soon as possible.

"Is that okay?"

The blonde-haired woman nods. "Yes. I don't want you to suffer like I am. It's the least I can do, since you came all the way here to help us..."

"Thank you." While I don't normally like to ask for help, right now I really need it. Plus, I can protect Williams and she can leave here with us, which was our mission to begin with. It's unfortunate her partner didn't make it- and I feel sorry for her, not just because of my powers but because I almost lost my partner and I know how it feels to a lesser degree- but the fact that at least one of them is alive is more than I expected. Though, I have to wonder, how much does Williams still want to live? Her sorrow is so deep, deep enough to make me keep a distance from her and protect myself mentally. How hard is it going to be for her when she is told she has to get a new partner? Or maybe she won't even go back to work. After being here, I wouldn't blame her.

And since when do I think so much about what another person is going to do? I used to just ignore other people altogether. Having grown up feeling the emotions of others constantly, I wouldn't give how they were feeling a second thought, but here I am, trying to figure out this woman. Tatsumi was certainly right when he said Tsuzuki taught me compassion.

Williams walks quietly behind me for a bit, apparently lost in thought. I'm not sure what she's thinking about, since I'm keeping a firm barrier around my mind to keep myself safe from her extreme emotions, but I can imagine it has something to do with her partner. She seems to have really loved him, not that it's any of my business.

"Do you know where your partner might be?" She suddenly asks in a voice hardly above a whisper.

I shake my head. "He...uh...fell." How can I explain this to her so that she can understand it? While I know enough English to get by, I'm not totally fluent in it, and I don't often speak it. I guess it's good I was the one who came across her though, because if it had been Tsuzuki, he wouldn't have been able to understand her at all, and vice versa. "There was a hole in the floor, and he fell. Tatsumi- the other Guardian of Death- and I tried to find him. I passed out and woke up alone."

"We should go down then."

"I looked there already."

There's a brief silence before Williams speaks again. "Well, we should-"

Whatever else she was going to say is drown out and cut off by a sudden loud crash from somewhere down the hall, making us both visibly jump.

"What was that?" Williams screeches, terror quickly reclaiming its hold on her.

Could it be Tatsumi or Tsuzuki? Maybe they are fighting a monster. Either way, standing here wondering isn't going to get us anywhere. "Come on. Stay behind me." I start forward, letting Williams follow behind. Please let it be Tatsumi or Tsuzuki.

I round the corner and come to an abrupt halt. There is no Shinigami in sight. Instead, in the middle of the hall, is a large, grotesque creature. It looks as if five or so bodies were melted together into one large mass. It walks on four feet, a couple just a tad too short to reach the ground, as well as three hands. Other limbs and heads are sticking out at random places. Random areas of its body convulse at random intervals, only making the overall image that much more disturbing. Behind me, Williams seems frozen in fear.

"What _is_ that?" I hear myself mumble in Japanese, not really meaning for it to be answered.

Williams is suddenly beside me, apparently having stepped forward.

"My...my friends..."

Did she just call it her friends? "Friends?" I ask as I turn to her, reverting back to English so she can understand me.

She gives a nod, not taking her eyes off the creature. "My friends have come back for me."

What on earth is she talking about? "I don't understand."

Turning to me, she asks, "Do you know how I died?" Of course I don't, nor am I asking, but, without waiting for any sort of response, Williams continues on, "It was the night we all graduated from school. We were all so happy, and we threw a party. My friends and I decided to all spend the night together since we were drinking a lot and it wouldn't be safe to drive home." The creature is slowly approaching, but she continues talking. "I was a smoker at the time. I apparently left a lit cigarette somewhere. Everyone else was asleep, then I passed out. By the time we woke up, the fire was too big. Only myself and one other got out alive, but my friend died from her wounds within a few hours. I died shortly after. I killed us all."

Why is she telling me this? Shinigami don't normally just spill their story out to anybody, much less somebody they just met, so why did this woman divulge her secrets to me? "Why are you telling me?"

The American Shinigami gives me a sad smile. "So you know why I have to do this."

Do what? What does she need to do? Williams walks forward, towards the monster. She pulls a paper charm out of her pocket that looks similar to an ofuda, but with different types of markings. Being just out of striking range of the monster, she turns back to face me.

"This spell will drain the rest of my energy, but it should kill this creature. If not, then I ask you finish it off for me."

She intends on sacrificing herself to kill this monster? But...if we both fight it, then we can win without any sacrifices! "Williams, move back! We'll fight it together, you don't need to do that!"

"There's nothing left for me, but there is for you. Find your friends, Hisoka, and save them before it's too late. Don't let them slip away."

With that, she turns away from me. Holding the charm in front of her, she begins chanting a spell in a low, fast voice. "Wait!" I yell, and dash forward to stop her. I can't let her do this. Just before I reach her, her spell activates. A powerful blast of energy shoots forth, the sheer force of it causing a backlash that makes me lose my balance. The creature lets out a horrible yell, the sound of five voices yelling in pain simultaneously. There's a loud thud as the body falls to the floor, followed by a softer one as Williams falls as well. I rush over to her with the intent of healing her, but she's already dead.

How could an attack cast by a Shinigami kill them? I know Williams had already been weak but...it takes so much to kill a Shinigami. Was it something about her own personal ability? I didn't see the monster attack her and she has no visible wounds, so it had to be something she did. However it happened, I won't find out now.

I feel a tear slide down my cheek. Why am I crying? I hardly knew this woman. I have no reason to feel any attachment to her, so why am I crying for her? Perhaps because I felt a sense of duty to protect her, to see her out of this place alive. It was my mission, after all, but missions don't come on a personal level. Maybe it was out of sympathy for her. Maybe it was because I could have saved her, but I was seconds too late. But, she didn't _want_ to be saved. She very clearly wanted to die, but did that still mean I shouldn't have tried to save her? Tsuzuki wanted to die too, but I saved him. Then again, Tsuzuki was different. He had something to live for, he just didn't realize it. Williams didn't seem like she had anything else to live for. The loss of her partner was too much for her to handle.

I suppose I can understand that. When I saw Tsuzuki trying to kill himself in Kyoto, I'd thrown all logic out the window. I didn't listen to Tatsumi's cautions, I didn't care that the fire would be enough to kill me. Whether I made it out alive or not didn't matter. All that had mattered was getting to Tsuzuki. I would either save him and leave with him, or stay there and die with him, because, after all he'd done for me, losing him would be too much. After finally finding somebody who cared about me, somebody who'd be my friend, somebody that I could open up a little to without getting hurt, losing that person would hurt me enough to permanently close up to anybody.

Jumping into a burning building that night had been such an out of character thing for me to do. I'm not one to act on emotion. I like to think things through first, but my emotions had gotten the better of me that night. Williams' emotions, too, had driven her to her decision.

Whether I should have saved her or not, it's too late now. Thinking about it isn't going to change it. I have other people I have to save. Williams wanted me to save my friends, the least I can do is honor her wish.

I wipe my eyes on my sleeve and get back to my feet. With both the Shinigami we came here to find dead, our mission is over. There's nothing more we can do. Now I can find Tatsumi and Tsuzuki, and we can leave this horrible place.

The problem is actually finding them. I'd think it'd be easy, given there are three of us in an abandoned building, our paths have to cross eventually. I swear this place is changing around and making it so we can't find each other. How else would it be this difficult to find each other?

Maybe I should go up. I already looked down, and I couldn't find anybody, even though that's where Tsuzuki should have been. Perhaps Tatsumi already found Tsuzuki, and the two of them are up a floor rather than down. Guess I'll try there. I make it only to the corner when I suddenly hear something else. I stop, listening carefully to find out what it is.

"Kurosaki!"

Wait, was that Tatsumi?

"Tatsumi-san!" I call back, hoping I wasn't just hearing things.

"Kurosaki?" Tatsumi's voice sounds again, followed by the echo of footsteps. A figure steps around the corner.

It is! It's Tatsumi! I'm so glad to see him I have the sudden urge to hug him. I don't actually do it though, because that'd probably be awkward for the both of us, especially since I'm not one for hugs. I think I've been hanging around Tsuzuki too long.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Tatsumi sounds relieved. "I'm so glad you are alright. I thought I heard something so I came to see who it was."

I give a slow nod. Tsuzuki isn't with Tatsumi. "Tsuzuki isn't with you?"

Tatsumi frowns. "No, he's not. I was hoping he'd be with you. I'm sorry for leaving you by yourself. After you passed out, we were attacked by monsters. I fought them off, but, before I could make it back to you I fell down a hole I didn't know was there. I've been looking for you and Tsuzuki ever since."

"Oh..." So Tsuzuki is still by himself. We have to find him. "Tatsumi-san, I found that American Shinigami, Williams, but...she sacrificed herself to kill one of the monsters that attacked us. She was alone when I found her, she told me her partner had already been killed. I...I tried to stop her, I wanted to help her get out of here, but I was too slow. She didn't want to live anymore, not without her partner. She was a terrified mess when I found her too. Tatsumi, I don't know what you've experienced, but there's something terribly wrong with this place, and I'm worried that if we don't find Tsuzuki soon..."

"I understand, Kurosaki-kun. We'll find him, don't worry. I was just on the second floor, but I didn't see him anywhere. I'm guessing he is still on one of the lower floors."

"But, I looked down there earlier and I didn't see him."

Tatsumi looks confused, which is completely understandable. "You did? He has to be here somewhere... Maybe we should look again, it'll be quicker with the two of us."

I nod. "Alright." I hope Tatsumi is right. I must protect the people that I care for.


	8. Distraught

_Author's Note: In honor of the Silent Hill tradition of multiple endings, I decided to write three different endings for this fic. One will be the "bad" ending, which will be very dark, one will be the "good" ending, which will end on a happier note, and one will be a silly alien ending, as the games have. If you think this is an absolutely horrible idea that I should definitely not do, please let me know, but I thought it would be fun and hold the tradition. The endings would start with the next chapter, each ending getting its own chapter, and each will be labeled as to which one it is. That said, thank you again to my reviewers, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!_

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**-Tsuzuki Asato-**

The demon that stands before me is at least twice my size. It is humanoid, like the others I've seen, but walks with a hunched back, as if a great weight is upon its shoulders. Large chains hang from both of its wrists and both of its ankles, clattering as it moves. Its skin looks like it is stained with blood spatter, as if the blood of those it has killed will never wash off- just like the blood of all the people that have died because of me. The creature lets out a low, agonizing moan. As it takes another step forward, I pull out an ofuda, ready to attack. Another step forward, and I send a blast of energy at it.

The monster stumbles back, but the weight of the chains helps prevent it from being knocked back further. With a cry, it rears back its fist and aims a punch right at my head. I quickly move out of the way, only to feel its other fist connect with my chest. The force of the blow knocks me back, into the steel door. Dammit, I walked right into its second punch, and it's strong.

Luckily, I recover quickly enough to scramble back to my feet and put distance between myself and my opponent. I might not be able to fight this thing on my own...I need to summon a Shikigami.

But...I can't feel their power! I didn't notice before, I was too focused on finding my way out and hadn't needed the help, but, now that I want to summon one of them, I can't find our connection. How is it possible for this place to lock out my Shikigami? I should be able to summon them anywhere in the Living Realm, so why can't I feel their power? Perhaps that would partly explain my own lack of power here. When a Shinigami tames a Shikigami, the Shikigami shares his powers with the Shinigami, thus increasing the Shinigami's abilities. It's a lot strong with parasitic Shikigami, but the summoning type boost power a bit. But here...my attacks seem weaker, and my healing has definitely slowed. I don't have my Shikigami, and I don't have my partner. I'm completely alone.

I probably deserve as much. After all, why should I be around people when those who get involved with me always end up getting hurt? I don't _like _to be alone, I enjoy the company of others. Except for when I'm upset, I love being around my friends. I enjoy brightening people's days, making them smile and laugh. The problem is, I don't make people happy. No matter how hard I try, all of it goes to waste when I screw something else up and hurt them more than I help them. My good intentions don't mean anything if my company only makes things worse. I don't deserve to be around people, and I don't deserve to be the master of twelve wonderful Shikigami.

This is how it should be. Just me, alone, fighting these demons. Perhaps I won't make it out alive. Perhaps this is where I'm to finally pay for all my sins. No, I'll live, but I won't make it out. After all, I _want_ to die. After I know Tatsumi and Hisoka are okay, I'll be happy to finally be relieved of this otherwise eternal life. I'll cease to exist. I don't deserve even that though. I'll be trapped here, tormented endlessly. That is what I deserve. But, I'm a coward. I'll find the easy way out.

The demon is headed towards me again. I almost want to let it crush me. I'm sure it could kill me if it wanted. But I still don't know if Hisoka is alright. So I'll fight, just for now, until I can be assured he'll make it out okay along with Tatsumi.

Having no Shikigami, I continue to use my ofuda against the demon. I can't tell if my attacks are damaging the thing. Despite my strikes, it keeps stepping forward. Are my attacks getting weaker? As the monster steps toward me, I step back. Bad move. Now my back is against a wall, and I'm trapped in a corner. I duck just in time to avoid being punched right in the face. As I try to run to one side, I can feel the monster's hand grab my arm. It flings me back, sending me across the room. There are sudden sharp pains all over my back as I collide with some large, spiky object against the wall before I fall to the ground.

How am I going to beat this thing? If my attacks are damaging it, I can't tell. If they aren't, what am I supposed to do? A part of me still wants to just give in to the demon. Is it my own indecisiveness that is weakening my attacks? If part of me doesn't want to kill the creature before it kills me, I may not be attacking at my full strength. I have to decide now if I want to survive this or not. There's not enough time to sit around trying to figure out what I want. I have to pick something and stick with it. I have to...

I have to make sure the people I love are alright. I know I've done many terrible things, and I know that I eventually have to pay for my crimes, but that will have to wait a little longer. I just can't let myself die before I know that the people I could protect are alright. At one point, I would have been able to make the decision very easily, I wouldn't have hesitated so much to let this demon kill me, but a small bit of hope has found me since then in the form of my partner. That's why I've been torn ever since I got separated from him and Tatsumi. Even at my worst, Hisoka has managed to pull me back when nobody else could. He's been the _only_ thing keeping me here, providing me with that small bit of hope that everything would be alright in the end, that, maybe, I wasn't as horrible as I thought I was. He may be an empath, but I don't think he realizes how much he has done for me.

I pull myself back to my feet. My decision has been made; I'm not going to let this thing kill me. My punishment will have to wait, because there are other people who don't deserve punishment that I must protect. I send another blast at the monster, more powerful this time, and I can tell it's working. The demon lets out a cry of pain and stumbles backwards. Another blow, and another. The demon falls to the ground with a loud thud. Is it finally dead? I wait a moment, but the monster doesn't move. I killed it.

Taking a deep breath, I let out a sigh. My body aches from being punched and tossed around and my back stings, but I can't rest. There's no time for rest. I have to keep going. Now, if I can just get that door open, I can leave this room and continue to try to find Hisoka and Tatsumi.

Oddly enough, the door opens easily now. I know it was locked before, how did it unlock? Did an attack from the battle break the lock somehow? Well, whatever, it doesn't matter how it happened, just that it did and I can get out.

I head back down the row of cells, ignoring everything that isn't what I'm looking for. I can't waste time looking at anything else. Investigating not only makes it take longer for me to find my friends, but it may just finally push me over the edge. I have to keep my mind fixed on my goal, or else I'll never see them again.

As I arrive back in the hospital area, a sound reaches my ears. It sounds like...somebody talking.

"...zuki...Tsuzuki! Tsuzuki!"

I freeze. Is that Hisoka? It is! That's Hisoka's voice! He's around here, I found him!

"Hisoka! I'm coming, hold on!" I yell and run ahead. It sounded like he's in pain, he might be under attack! I don't hear any monsters, but he may be in danger. Where is he? I hear him call out for me again. There, he must be in that room! The door is open a crack, so he must have gone in! Not wasting any time, I run in, shoving the door the rest of the way open.

He's...not here? I shine my ofuda around the dark room, but Hisoka is nowhere in sight. Was I wrong? I call out to him, but there's no response. Was I imagining things? But it sounded so real...

There it is again! Why does it sound...broken up? Hisoka's voice calls again, but it sounds like there is static, like a radio losing its reception. What is going on?

There, in the corner of the room. A television? Why is Hisoka's voice coming from it? Curious, I walk up to it. The screen is full of static. Slowly, a picture comes into view. Tatsumi and Hisoka? They are walking together in what looks like this hospital...is this showing me what they are doing right now? If so...then they are together and safe. That's good.

"Do you think we're going to find him?" Hisoka asks on the television.

"We should. He can't have gone too far."

It looks like Hisoka shakes his head. "I can't believe that idiot. He has no idea how much trouble he causes. He's making this case so much harder than it has to be."

"Tsuzuki-san always makes things difficult. Why do you think I ended our partnership? You should probably end yours with him too."

Hisoka sighs. "Probably. Who knows what kind of trouble he got himself into now. Though, whatever it is, he deserves it. Maybe we should just leave him here."

I stare at the screen, not wanting to believe what I'm hearing. Hisoka wants to get rid of me? I know I cause a lot of trouble for everyone but...if he didn't want me, why would he have done so much for me? No, this can't be real. This has to be another trick. Hisoka wouldn't say those kinds of things. He told me he wanted me to stay...that he needed me. He wouldn't leave me here.

"Maybe we should." Tatsumi says. "He only ever causes problems. We'd all be better off without him. You'll get a new partner, and in the meantime, you can work with Watari or myself."

Please don't say things like that! I know I ruined my partnership with Tatsumi...but he's never tried to break my partnership with Hisoka. He has always encouraged it, he wouldn't leave me here either! He's my friend! It has to be a trick!

But...they're right. All I ever do is cause problems for people. We're separated because of my own stupidity. If I had listened to Hisoka, I wouldn't have fallen and we'd all still be together. It's my fault. Hisoka really would be better off with another partner. Tatsumi and Watari would both take care of him, and he'd have a much easier time working with them than he would with me. Tatsumi and Hisoka would probably work very well together. I owe Hisoka everything, and yet all I ever do is make things difficult for him. I don't deserve him. He deserves so much better than me. I'm just useless, annoying, pathetic excuse of a person. I try to do better, and I still mess everything up. I never deserved having the friends that I do, and I never should have existed.

Yes, they'd be better off without me. Everyone would. I have to finish what I started in Kyoto. There's a knife on that table over there. How very convenient. I think this place was meant to be my grave.

I'm sorry, Tatsumi...I'm sorry, Hisoka. I don't ask for you to forgive me, because I don't deserve it. I just hope you will both be more happy now. I hope you get the kind of partner you deserve, Hisoka.

I'm sorry...

**-Tatsumi Seiichiro-**

I glance over at Kurosaki as we walk, worried. Though he tries not to show it, he is clearly distraught. I know he is upset over losing the American Shinigami, and he is quite worried about Tsuzuki. I can remember when he first became a Shinigami, how he always kept the same, serious expression on his face, careful not to show emotions. That's slowly been changing, however, and, even though he's trying to be strong now, his pained expression gives away his worry. Of course, I can't blame him, as I am worried too. He's grown such strong bonds since becoming a Shinigami, it really is good to see.

"We'll find him, Kurosaki-kun. Keep alert, I'm sure you'll sense him if he's nearby."

Kurosaki nods. "He is very easy to sense. The fact that I haven't sensed him at all since I passed out bothers me. Though...I think this place messes with our abilities, other than not being able to fly."

"Yes...I think you are right. I'm not sure my shadows are as strong as they usually are when I attack, though at least I can still use them."

"This place is so strange. I'm not sure we'll be able to figure out what happened with it. I don't know how we are going to solve this case..."

"Do not worry about the case right now, Kurosaki. Once we find Tsuzuki, we are going to leave. We need to get away from here, all of us." While he doesn't need to know what I have experienced, I am not going to deny that I too want to leave this place. It is a danger to our mental health. We can worry about trying to figure out what happened once we rest and know we aren't all going to go insane.

We turn a corner and abruptly stop. Standing just before the staircase we need to go down are what appear to be two doctors. Looking at their faces, however, it is obvious they are another one of this town's monsters. I ready myself for attack as one of them turns to face us. I glance over at Kurosaki, but he is only staring in horror. I understand what is bothering him- looking again, the doctors look a bit like Muraki.

"Kurosaki-kun, don't let them intimidate you! You have to fight back!"

Kurosaki nods and pulls one of his ofuda from his pocket. I attack first, gathering shadows from around me and sending them at the demon closest to me. Kurosaki follows up my attack with one of his own, effectively killing the first opponent. Before I get a chance to strike at the next one, Kurosaki attacks it, once, twice, three times. The ofuda in his hand dissolves into nothing. I release control of the shadows, watching as Kurosaki slowly makes his way over to the bodies of the demons. He looks down at one and kicks it. I walk over to him and lay a hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry, Tatsumi-san."

"No need to apologize. I know how much he upsets you. He bothers all of us."

Kurosaki lets out a sigh. "Yes. I'm alright now, though. Come on, let's find Tsuzuki."

We make our way down the staircase, Kurosaki walking in front of me. His hand trails along the banister, probably trying to pick up on any traces of Tsuzuki. He stays silent, and I don't try to talk to him, letting him concentrate.

I wonder what the Chief will think of our report when we get out of here. If it wasn't for the fact I experienced it first hand, it would be difficult to believe the psychological effects this place has. I'm sure he'll understand us not finishing our investigation. He knows we wouldn't lie about something like this, he'll understand how serious it is. The problem is preventing anyone else from coming here. Perhaps a large group of Shinigami would be alright, but only sending pairs probably isn't going to work. Right now, however, I need to focus on getting Tsuzuki and getting us out of here. Then we will have time to worry about what to do next.

As we reach the bottom of the staircase, Kurosaki suddenly freezes.

"Kurosaki-kun? What's wrong?"

"I think...I think I sense Tsuzuki! He's nearby! It's unusually faint, though, like he's..." Kurosaki's eyes widen, as if he realized something, "Dammit, Tatsumi, we need to hurry!"

Like he's what? I don't have time to ask Kurosaki to finish his sentence, however, as he is already running ahead of me. Something must be wrong. It's very likely that this town has been eating away at Tsuzuki's sanity. It almost drove me crazy, and Tsuzuki is more fragile than I am. His guilt is his weakness, and this town most certainly seems to be able to play at one's guilt. He's one of the last people that should be alone in this kind of place. I just hope he is unharmed and we reach him in time before there is any severe damage done to him, physically, mentally or emotionally.

Hisoka stops turns into a room. I follow him, and almost crash into him due to him stopping abruptly in the doorway.

Sitting in the corner of the room is Tsuzuki, a knife in his hand, his wrist bleeding, a lifeless expression on his face.


	9. Bad Ending Demise

_Author's Note: Here is the first ending to the story, the "bad" ending. Just as a warning, this one is very dark._

* * *

**-Kurosaki Hisoka-**

"Tsuzuki!" I rush over to my partner, who's slumped against the walls of a corner, unmoving. There's something wrong. I can't feel his presence at all. It's impossible for me not to sense him; he's always bursting with emotions, be them honest or fake ones to hide how he really feels, there's always a strong emotion I can feel coming from him. He can tone it down to prevent giving me massive headaches, but he can't completely get rid of it. Yet now, no matter how had I try, I can't sense him at all. The only thing I can get is his lingering thoughts of despair.

I grab the knife from his hands as soon as I kneel down to his level. The knife is released all too easily. He's not resisting. He's not moving. He's not speaking. He's not looking at me.

He's not breathing.

No! This can't be happening! I won't allow it to! Tsuzuki is NOT going to die on me!

Leaving one hand hovering just above the wound on his wrist and placing the other on his chest, I begin pouring energy into him, trying to heal him.

The energy is leaving me, but it's not flowing into Tsuzuki. It's simply lost upon him, like trying to heal an inanimate object.

"Tsuzuki! Wake up, Tsuzuki!" He has to wake up, he has to! I won't allow him to go! He can't leave me!

"Kurosaki..." Tatsumi's voice calls out softly from just behind me. He kneels down beside me and looks over Tsuzuki. I can feel the shock and sorrow flowing off of him.

I keep trying to heal Tsuzuki. I don't care if I have to drain myself to unconsciousness to wake him up. I have to save him no matter what it takes. Tatsumi's hand gently lands on my shoulder.

"Kurosaki-kun, stop. It's...it's not doing any good."

I shake my head furiously. "No! I can't stop! I have to save Tsuzuki! It has to work! It has to!"

"Kurosaki-kun, please..." Tatsumi's voice is low, hardly above a whisper. "It's...he's already...there's...nothing else we can do..."

"No! That can't be! He can't go!" My healing slows to a stop as my hand clenches, grasping Tsuzuki's jacket. I collapse against his chest. "Please, Tsuzuki...don't go...you can't die..." There's no reaction. No matter how much I try to heal him, no matter how much I will his heart to start beating again, nothing happens. It doesn't make sense. He should have healed faster on his own. Why couldn't he recover from wounds like that? Why...why did he inflict them upon himself? Why does he always have to suffer? Why couldn't I have been there to stop him? Tsuzuki means the world to me, why do I have to lose the only person who's ever cared for me so much?

"Don't leave me... I love you, Tsuzuki...don't leave me!"

Why didn't I tell him I love him sooner?

I can hear something suddenly shatter, followed by the sound of something crashing to the ground. Not too far from Tatsumi, a shadow is receding from a fallen television, its screen completely shattered.

"Kurosaki-kun...let's go..."

**-ooooooooooooo-**

I lay on the hotel bed where I collapsed as soon as I got in the room, my back to Tatsumi, staring at the empty space beside me. The space where Tsuzuki should be, but isn't. My mind feels completely numb. I can hardly think. I thought I'd given up on ever connecting with anybody long ago. I swore I'd never get close enough to anybody to be hurt, never let anybody get close enough to try to change my mind.

I lost that battle. With Tsuzuki, such a thing had never been impossible.

I reach out across the bed, as if, by some miracle, he would appear under my hand, pull me closer to him and hug me despite knowing I don't like physical contact (ironic how now that's all I want), tell me it is over, it is okay, he is there. But he isn't. And he never will be.

Up until now, I'd never realized just how dependent I'd gotten. I had been so certain that, despite having to partner up upon becoming a Shinigami, I'd still be independent. I never realized how reliant I had gotten on Tsuzuki's smile, his unique amethyst eyes, his small displays of affection. I never realized that I loved him.

You don't know what you've got until it's gone. Now for me, everything is gone. That damn town took everything away from me in one swoop.

I'll never be able to tell Tsuzuki how important he was to me. How much he had given me, how much I appreciated every genuine smile, every hug, all the small things he did for me despite the fact I never showed my appreciation. I'll never be able to tell him how much I love him. My stubbornness has prevented me from saying the words until it was all too late. Now he'll never know.

I can't even see correctly anymore, with everything swimming in the tears stinging my eyes. I don't want to think about him, but he's all I can think about, and the more I think about him, the more painful it gets. A pain far beyond any I've felt before.

I must have let out a sob, because I can feel Tatsumi sitting on the edge of the bed beside me. I sit up, my back still turned to him, not wanting to face him. I don't want to face anybody. Unless it's Tsuzuki, I don't want to see anyone.

"Kurosaki-kun..."

I feel Tatsumi's hand fall gently on my shoulder, and completely lose the fragile bit of control I had over myself. I turn to face him, tears spilling freely from my eyes now, and bury my face in his shirt, crying uncontrollably. He seems to hesitate for a moment, probably unsure of what to do, but slowly wraps his arms around me in attempt to comfort me. As much as I appreciate the gesture, it only reminds me of how Tsuzuki used to comfort me whenever I was upset.

Tatsumi's grip around me tightens, and I think he is crying now too. How pathetic we must look, clinging to each other and sobbing in a vain attempt to comfort both each other and ourselves, like a child clinging to a torn and ragged doll, knowing that it will never be restored to its original self but still wishing it would magically repair.

"T-Tatsumi...san...I..." Is all I can manage to say before I'm once again choked by tears, the remaining words trapped in my throat. 'I loved him' are the words that echo in my mind, unable to pass through my lips. Still, Tatsumi seems to know what I was about to say.

"I know, Kurosaki-kun...I did too..."

Tsuzuki, you idiot. How could you do this? How could you think everyone would be better off without you? How could you not realize how important you are to everyone, how much it kills us to lose you? Tsuzuki had restored my trust, had brought that part of me back to life, the part that cared, that didn't want to be distant. Now it's dead again, and there are no third chances. _I'm_ dead again.

I don't know how I'll be able to keep going. I don't think I can bear walking into the office and continue on working. They'll want to assign me a new partner eventually, but I don't want a new partner. I can't accept a new partner. I'm not going to even try to keep up the charades. If they thought I was cold and distant before, I'll be nothing but a walking corpse now.

I regain some control over myself, slowly quieting my sobs until I can only hear Tatsumi's. Do you remember that time, Tsuzuki, back in Kyoto, when you tried to burn yourself to death with Touda's black flames, that I told you I'd follow you wherever you went? That wherever you were going, I'd go? Guess what? I haven't forgotten, and I wasn't lying. Wait for me, Tsuzuki. I'll be joining you shortly.

I'm coming.


	10. Good Ending The Nightmare Ends

_Author's Note: This is the second ending, the "good" ending. This one ends on a much more positive note than the previous one. I know it's quite short, but I decided this was a good way to end it, as going further didn't have the same effect and sort of ruined it. I hope it's enjoyable nevertheless!  
_

_

* * *

_

**-Tsuzuki Asato-**

I can hear somebody calling me. Who's there?

No, not another monster! Stop tormenting me!

"Go away! Leave me alone!"

The monster stops moving suddenly. After a moment, it speaks.

"Tsuzuki, it's me, Hisoka!"

"Hi...soka?" Is it really him? I blink, trying to make out his face in the darkness. Could it really be him this time?

Before I even notice him moving, he's kneeling in front of me, grabbing the knife from my hand, tossing it aside, and healing the wounds on my wrist. It really is Hisoka. He's really here this time, it's not a trick! But...for him to see me like this...

"Tsuzuki, you idiot..." Hisoka mumbles as he finishes healing my wrist. He throws himself at me suddenly, arms wrapped tightly around me, his face pressed against my chest. "You scared me. You scared us both. We've been so worried about you..."

We? I look up, and notice Tatsumi standing there, looking down at us.

"He's right, Tsuzuki-san. We've been looking all over for you."

I frown. I've been worrying them that much? I didn't mean to. It's my fault for falling down that hole in the first place. If I had listened to Hisoka, this never would have happened. None of this would have happened. They really would be better off without me...

"Stop." Hisoka says, and looks up at me. "Please, stop. We were worried because we care about you, Tsuzuki. We're not better off without you, not at all. Besides...I need you, Tsuzuki. Don't think like that anymore. I wasn't lying when I said I wanted you to stay with me. So, come with us. Let's leave here, together."

"But...the other Shinigami, we haven't found her yet. One of them is dead...I found his body...but his partner-"

Hisoka shakes his head and pulls away from me slightly. "She's...gone too, Tsuzuki. I found her before Tatsumi found me. She was barely clinging to life when I found her. I tried to help her but...she knew her partner was dead. She sacrificed herself to kill a monster. She didn't want to live without her partner."

"Oh..." So, they are both dead. She killed herself because she couldn't stand being without her partner. Is that how Hisoka would feel if I had died? I know that's how I would feel if I lost him.

"I couldn't stand to lose you either, Tsuzuki." Hisoka says, as if answering my thoughts. I'm not sure if he actually picked up on them or not, but, either way, it means the same thing. "Come on, let's go. I don't want to be here any longer."

I nod, and Hisoka stands up. Him and Tatsumi both hold their hands out to me, offering to help me up. I can't help but smile a little. To think, after all I've put them through, they are still there to pick me up when I fall. They still want me with them. I take their hands, and they pull me to my feet. They don't let go right away, both of them giving me soft smiles. Tatsumi releases my hand and turns around, leading us.

"Come on, let's go."

Yes, let's leave this place behind us. All of us, together.


	11. Alien Ending Abduction

_Author's Note: Last but not least, here is the alien ending, because it's just not Silent Hill without a goofy ending involving aliens. This one is, of course, very silly._

* * *

**-Kurosaki Hisoka-**

"Tsuzuki!" I run over to my partner, stopping right in front of him. He's laying slumped against the walls of the corner, motionless. He doesn't look at me. He doesn't acknowledge I'm there at all. He doesn't even seem to be breathing.

No, he can't be dead! He has to live! He can't leave me! I'll save him, I have to save him! Keeping one hand hovering just above his injured wrist and placing the other on his chest, I begin trying to heal him, pouring as much energy into him as I can.

"Tsuzuki, please, wake up! Don't go, don't leave me!"

"Hisoka..." A voice calls. I look up at Tsuzuki, but it's not from him. Is it Tatsumi? It calls again. It doesn't sound like Tatsumi...it sounds like Tsuzuki. But...he's not talking. What's going on?

"Hisoka! Hisoka!"

I awaken with a start to a hand on my shoulder, gently shaking me. Tsuzuki is leaning over me looking concerned. Relief floods his face when he sees I'm awake, but he's still worried.

"Are you alright? You kept thrashing around and moaning in your sleep."

Am I alright? I think so. Ah, that's right...I was having a nightmare. I nod. "Just a nightmare..." It must have been some nightmare too, because I feel terrified. I must have slept in some really awkward positions, because my whole body feels sore. I think about it for a moment, trying to remember what the nightmare was about. A desolate town, my worst fears coming to life...Tsuzuki committing a successful suicide.

"Hisoka?"

I look back up at Tsuzuki. He looks worried again. "I had a dream we had a mission with Tatsumi to this town called Silent Hill in America." I explained, "Two Shinigami had already vanished while investigating the place. It was terrible...the town was bringing my worst nightmares to life. It did the same to you, too... The last thing I remember is finding you-" I cut myself off, not wanting to say 'suicide'. Tsuzuki is staring at me with wide eyes, mouth agape. I hope my last sentence didn't trigger any bad memories. I give him a questioning look.

"I had the same dream."

Now it's my turn to be surprised. "You did?"

Tsuzuki nods. "Mhmm. It was...the scariest nightmare I've ever had. It felt so real..."

"That's weird..." I say, wondering how our dreams could have synchronized like that. Does my empathy pick up on his dreams and affect my own now too? We were sharing a bed, so the close proximity could have had something to do with it. It hasn't happened before, but I guess it's possible.

Actually...where are my clothes? I can understand waking up shirtless, I can _almost_ even understand waking up without pants if it was really hot, but there is one particular article of clothing that should _not_ be missing, especially since I'm not sleeping alone. I glance over at Tsuzuki, now realizing he is also shirtless. I'm just going to assume he isn't wearing anything else either, because I'm definitely not going to look to find out.

"Tsuzuki..." I start slowly, trying not to look at him, fully knowing my face is turning red, "Where are our clothes?"

He opens his mouth to answer me, but apparently he doesn't know either. "Er..." He looks around the room before pointing to the floor. "Oh. There they are."

I look down at the floor and find the missing objects strewn about on both sides of the bed, as if they were carelessly cast aside at some point during the night. Now, it's perfectly normal for Tsuzuki to leave his clothes on the floor, but he always replaces them with pajamas. At least, when I'm with him he does. Whatever he does when he's alone is his business, and I don't care to know. I know _I_ most certainly don't leave my clothes on the floor before I go to bed. Nor do I sleep naked.

Does that mean Tsuzuki...did we...oh, hell no. How would I forget something like THAT?

I do remember coming back to Tsuzuki's house after a mission. It had been a particularly stressful one and left me exhausted. I could have gone back to my house, but, to be perfectly honest, I hadn't wanted to be alone. Of course, I wasn't going to tell Tsuzuki that, but it worked out well since I was ready to collapse anyway and he had offered me to stay here. Actually, I don't recall much else after that. I think I collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep instantly. I don't even recall changing into pajamas. Pretty sure I fell asleep with my clothes on, jacket and all.

So then...did Tsuzuki decide to take them off? No, he wouldn't do that...right? I mean, if it was just my jacket, I wouldn't mind, but he wouldn't remove everything. Unless he was drunk...he did have sake when we got back, despite me telling him to just go to sleep. No, he wouldn't...but then...why else wouldn't I have any clothes on? Did he somehow spike one of my drinks enough to make me pass out and not remember what happened?

"Tsuzuki! What the hell did you do last night? I know YOU had a glass of sake. Did you spike my drink, then...do...stuff..." I trail off for a second, not even completely sure where I was going with that sentence, before quickly bringing it back to alcohol. "I swear, if you spiked my drink, I will strangle you!"

"What? No! I didn't! I mean, I did _think_ about it..."

"You THOUGHT ABOUT IT?" Enma help me if my hands find his neck.

"I mean...it was just a passing thought! I didn't actually do it!"

"You did _something_, Tsuzuki, because I can't remember anything past coming home and you pouring yourself a glass of sake last night!"

"Ah! I'm sorry! I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry!"

I stop. He doesn't remember either? What, did he get himself wasted then spike my drink so I'd forget too? "You don't remember?"

"No! I don't! I know you were really tired, I think you fell asleep before you even changed into pajamas. I could have sworn I had pajamas on before I went to bed..." He trails off, brow furrowed, apparently trying hard to remember what had happened. A moment later, his eyes grow wide. "We were...abducted...by aliens..."

I stare at him. Abducted by aliens? What the hell? It's times like these I have to try to remind myself why I love him so much, because he's about one step away from being suffocated. "Abducted, Tsuzuki? I'm NOT LAUGHING!"

"No! It's not a joke! I'm serious!"

"That sake must have messed with your brain, because now you sound utterly ridiculous!"

Tsuzuki pouts. "But, Hisoka, I know what I'm talking about! I remember waking up briefly and being strapped down to a cold table with aliens looking down at me, and you were on a table beside me! But then they must have knocked me out again!"

"TSUZUKI!" I can't take it anymore. I lunge at Tsuzuki, hoping to beat the truth out of him. Unfortunately, the action sends us both tumbling over the side of the bed and onto the floor, tangled in blankets. Still, I manage to pin him down. "Enma help me, Tsuzuki, because I'm about to kill his best Shinigami! The longer it takes for you to tell the truth, the slower and more painful it's going to be!"

"But I AM telling the truth! That's what I remember!" Tsuzuki whines, adamant that we got abducted by aliens last night.

I'm about to yell at him again, but abruptly stop, remembering the fact neither of us are wearing any clothes and realizing the awkward position I've landed us in. I try to move off of Tsuzuki, only to have my hand slip from the blanket on the hardwood floor and leaving me to fall back on top of Tsuzuki. To make matters worse, the blankets are wrapped around us in a tangled mess. One of Tsuzuki's legs is wrapped up with one of mine, and trying to kick the blanket off to free said leg isn't proving useful. Of course, there isn't much blanket between us so much as wrapped around us. And we're still both naked.

If my face wasn't red before, it definitely is now.

Before either of us get a chance to do anything else, something outside the window catches our attention. We both turn to look toward it.

Hovering there is some sort of UFO, one of its windows parallel with Tsuzuki's. Three creatures I can only describe as aliens are laughing, one pointing at us. We must look ridiculous, both from our positions and the expressions on our faces, because it looks like they just started laughing harder. I simply stare, still too stunned to say anything. No way. There are NOT aliens outside of Tsuzuki's house.

"Tsuzuki...please, PLEASE tell me this is another dream."

"Do you want me to be honest?"

"I'm not sure at this point."

Tsuzuki pinches my arm, though neither of us have taken our eyes off of the aliens just outside the window.

"Ow!"

"Nope, not a dream, sorry."

"..."

"..."

The aliens have apparently gotten their fill of laughter, because they are now waving at us. A second later, the UFO takes off, vanishing into the sky as if it was never there. After staring at the window for another half a minute, trying to register what just happened, I finally look back at Tsuzuki.

"Not a single word of any of this is to ever be spoken of. Or thought of. Don't even think of it. Pretend it never happened. In fact, let's get back in bed, try to sleep a little longer, and forget anything that happened between the time we walked in the house last night to the time we get up again. Agreed?"

Tsuzuki gives a small nod, apparently shocked he was right and we aren't dreaming. "Agreed."

* * *

_Author's Note: And there we have it! The end of this fanfiction. Thank you to my loyal readers and reviewers, who gave me the encouragement to continue writing! I hope I did well getting into the minds of the characters and bringing out their own personal nightmares, and I hope you enjoyed the various endings. I certainly enjoyed writing it. Thank you again to all those who read, reviewed, and encouraged me to finish this story!_


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